Venezuela renews call for Trump-maduro talks
STANDOFF: China, Russia voice opposition to military action
GENEVA: Venezuela’s foreign minister on Wednesday called for direct talks between President Nicolas Maduro and his US counterpart Donald Trump to help ease the crisis in the country.
The call from Venezuela’s top diplomat Jorge Arreaza came in an address to the United Nations Human Rights Council that was boycotted by multiple diplomats including from Latin America and Europe.
“We are proposing the path of dialogue, even with the United States... Why shouldn’t they meet, President Trump and President Maduro?” Arreaza said.
The United States does not sit in the rights council following Trump’s decision to quit the body last year. But the American envoy to the UN’S Conference on Disarmament (COD) Robert Wood walked out of that chamber as another Venezuelan diplomat, Felix Plasencia, took the podium.
Several Latin American, European and other diplomats also joined Wood’s walkout.
Asked later about the prospects of a Trump-maduro summit, Wood told reporters: “President Trump is prepared to meet with the rightful president of Venezuela and that is Juan Guaido.”
Arreaza denounced what he described as a campaign of “aggression” being perpetrated by the United States against Venezuela, including an international assault on the government’s foreign assets.
He said Washington’s actions were depriving ordinary Venezuelans of food and medicine, and called on the rights council to “raise its voice” against the American “blockade.” Wood said it was a “disgrace” that Maduro’s representatives were being allowed to address UN bodies.
Wednesday’s walkouts in the rights council and disarmament chamber “sent a very powerful message,” he added.
“The former Maduro regime should not be allowed to try to continue to represent the Venezuelan people,” Wood said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers voiced their opposition to military action in Venezuela.
Russia and China, which have had close relations with Maduro over the years, have repeatedly warned against any foreign interference in Venezuela, while Washington has backed the opposition leader.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow’s assertion that the United States was using aid deliveries as a pretext to carry out military action in Venezuela.
“We are working together with all the countries that are no less than us concerned by the scenario of a military interference,” Lavrov at a previously planned meeting with his Indian and Chinese counterparts in the Chinese city of Wuzhen.
“I believe the US should listen to what the countries in the region think,” he added.
The United States is among some 50 countries that recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, while Maduro still enjoys the diplomatic support of Russia and China.
Trump has said that Washington is not ruling out armed action, while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he was confident that “Maduro’s days are numbered.” Earlier this week, the US said it would ask the UN Security Council to adopt a draft resolution demanding that humanitarian aid be allowed into Venezuela — a major escalation in its diplomatic campaign in support of Guaido — and announced $56 million in aid to Venezuelans.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow’s assertion that the United States was using aid deliveries as a pretext to carry out military action in Venezuela