Caracas/Moscow, January 30
Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro accused US President Donald Trump of ordering his assassination while his main global backer Russia called on Wednesday for mediation in a standoff deepening geopolitical splits.
The fight to control Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, has intensified with new US sanctions and legal moves that may bring the arrest of opposition leader and self-declared interim President Juan Guaido.
In an interview with RIA news agency, Maduro, 56, facing the biggest challenge to his rule since replacing Hugo Chavez six years ago, said Trump had ordered neighboring Colombia to murder him. “Trump has without doubt given an order to kill me and has told the government of Colombia and the Colombian mafia to kill me,” Maduro said, reprising a constant accusation of his and Chavez’s over the years.
Bogota and Washington have routinely denied that, while foes say Maduro uses such accusations as a smokescreen when in trouble. However, speculation of military action against him was fueled this week when Trump adviser John Bolton carried a notepad with the words “5,000 troops to Colombia”.
In a tweet, Trump warned US citizens against travelling to Venezuela, given the unrest. Russia, which like China has loaned and invested in OPEC member Venezuela, called on Guaido to drop his demand for a snap election and instead accept mediation. However, given the failure of previous rounds of dialogue, opponents are suspicious, believing Maduro uses them to quell protests and buy time.
Venezuela’s SC has imposed a travel ban on Guaido and frozen his bank accounts in apparent retaliation for oil curbs by the US. — Reuters
‘Ready to negotiate’
"I am ready to sit down at the negotiating table with the opposition so that we could talk for the good of Venezuela. It would be good to hold parliamentary polls at an earlier stage, it would be a good form of political discussion." Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela President
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2Ga0foO
via IFTTT https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
No comments: