NZ won’t pick sides in Venezuela, says Peters
New Zealand will not be joining a growing number of countries which recognise the Venezuelan Opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as the interim president, Foreign Minister Winston Peters made clear yesterday.
But the nation is echoing a call for fresh elections.
“It is not New Zealand’s practice to make statements of recognition of governments,” Peters said in a statement. “Venezuela needs to decide its future through free and fair elections,” Peters said in response to a request for comment.
“This government expressed concerns about Venezuela’s elections in 2018, and these concerns remain.”
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 yesterday announced it would join the US Britain, Germany, France and Spain in recognising the 35-year-old Guaido if Maduro failed to call fresh elections in eight days.
Maduro took over from the late Hugo Chavez in 2013 and was reelected in May last in elections which were widely discredited because Maduro had prevented his main opponents from standing.
Under his rule, the economy has collapsed, food shortages and political turmoil have led to mass emigration, and inflation reached 1.3 million per cent in the 12 months to November.
On January 23, Guaido declared himself interim president, two weeks after Maduro was sworn in.
Maduro has the support of Russia, China and Turkey as the political crisis unfolds. Maduro oversaw a display of Russian military hardware on Sunday, with tank rounds pounding a hillside near Caracas, Reuters reported.