■ The U.S. urges support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Maduro says U.S. envoys can remain in Venezuela

UNITED NATIONS — The United States urged all nations Saturday to end Venezuela’s “nightmare” and support opposition leader Juan Guaido, while Russia accused the Trump administration of attempting “to engineer a coup d’etat” against President Nicolas Maduro — a reflection of the world’s deep divisions over the crisis in the South American country.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council at a meeting called by Washington that it’s beyond time to back the Venezuelan people as they try to free themselves from what he called Maduro’s “illegitimate mafia state” and support Guaido. The young opposition leader has declared himself the country’s interim president, arguing that Maduro’s re-election was fraudulent.

But Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said Venezuela doesn’t threaten international peace and security, and he accused “extremist opponents” of Maduro’s legitimate government of choosing “maximum confrontation,” including the artificial creation of a parallel government. He urged Pompeo to say whether the U.S. will use military force.

Pompeo later told reporters who asked for a response, “I am not going to speculate or hypothesize on what the U.S. will do next.”

Meanwhile, Maduro’s government backtracked Saturday from its order for U.S. Embassy personnel to leave Venezuela.

The socialist president broke relations with the United States on Wednesday after the Trump administration and many other nations in the region recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

But as the sun set Saturday on Venezuela’s capital of Caracas, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Maduro’s government was suspending the expulsion to provide a 30-day window for negotiating with the Trump administration on setting up a “U.S. interests office” in Venezuela and a similar Venezuelan office in the United States.

The State Department did not confirm the Venezuelan government’s account, reiterating only that its priority remains the safety of its personnel and that it has no plans to close the embassy.

Kevin Hagen The Associated Press Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks Saturday at the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters.