Peters firm on Venezuela
NEW ZEALAND will not be joining a growing list of countries which is recognising Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president, Foreign Minister Winston Peters made clear yesterday.
‘‘It is not New Zealand’s practice to make statements of recognition of Governments,’’ Mr Peters said in a statement, which has not been publicly issued.
‘‘Venezuela needs to decide its future through free and fair elections. he said in response to a request for comment.
The United States at the weekend urged other countries to ‘‘pick a side’’ as it supports moves to unseat President Nicolas Maduro who has held office since 2013.
Australia announced yesterday it would join the US, Britain, Germany, France and Spain in recognising Mr Guaido if Mr Maduro failed to call fresh elections in eight days. — NZME
CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro oversaw a display of the army’s Russian hardware yesterday, with antiaircraft flak and tank rounds pounding a hillside to show military force and loyalty in the face of an international ultimatum for new elections.
Maduro (56) is confronting an unprecedented challenge to his authority after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, citing a fraudulent election. Guaido has won wide international support and offers amnesty to soldiers who join him.
Yesterday, Israel and Australia joined the countries backing the 35yearold leader, and President Donald Trump’s administration said it had accepted Venezuelan opposition figure Carlos Alfredo Vecchio as the country’s diplomatic representative in the United States.
Early yesterday, alongside Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, Maduro watched a platoon of soldiers release volleys of rocketpropelled grenades, machinegun antiaircraft fire and tank rounds at hillside targets, the Russian ordnance kicking up clouds of dust at the Fort of Paramacay, an armoured vehicle base.
Maduro said the display showed the world he had the backing of the military, and that Venezuela’s armed forces were ready to defend the country. Maduro says Guaido is taking part in a coup directed by Trump’s hardline policy advisers, including Cold War veterans John Bolton and Elliott Abrams.
‘‘Nobody respects the weak, cowards, traitors. In this world, what’s respected is the brave, the courageous, power,’’ Maduro said.
‘‘Nobody should even think of stepping on this sacred soil. Venezuela wants peace . . . and to guarantee peace, we have to be prepared,’’ he said.
From February 10 to 15, the military is planning larger exercises Maduro described as the ‘‘most important in the history of Venezuela.’’
The show of force was accompanied by a government publicity campaign online based on the slogan ‘‘Always Loyal, Never a Traitor,’’ and followed a highprofile defection by the country’s top military diplomat in the US on Sunday.
Maduro denounced an alleged conspiracy aimed at spreading rebellion in the army, saying thousands of messages were being sent to soldiers every day over social media. — Reuters