Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, bolstered by a Russian military deployment infuriating the US, on Thursday announced a ban on Washington-backed self-declared interim leader Juan Guaido holding public office.
Guaido, the National Assembly president, immediately shot back that the 15-year prohibition announced on state television by Maduro’s Auditor-General Elvis Amoroso was invalid.
“He is not auditor-general... The legitimate congress is the only one with power to designate an auditor-general,” he said.
Photo: AFP
The announcement also prompted a withering response from Washington, where US Department of State spokesman Robert Palladino described the move in a brief remark as “ridiculous.”
It was the latest scuffle between Maduro and Guaido, who lay rival claims to be the legitimate leader of the oil-producing South American nation of 30 million people.
The competition has been escalated into a geopolitical struggle, drawing in the US and its allies that support Guaido, and Russia, Cuba and China backing Maduro.
Although unpopular in a country spiraling ever deeper into economic chaos, Maduro has the upper hand at home, thanks to loyalty from his military chiefs and, since last weekend, the presence of 100 Russian troops.
Abroad, Guaido is buoyed by US sanctions against Maduro’s regime funneling funds his way, and efforts to have his envoys recognized over Maduro’s in diplomatic missions and international organizations.
Maduro, who so far has heeded US warnings to not arrest Guaido under threat of unspecified repercussions, appears nonetheless more confident since Moscow’s overt protection.
Moscow on Thursday shrugged off a demand made a day earlier by US President Donald Trump that “Russia has to get out” of Venezuela.
Its troops, described as military experts, would stay “for as long as needed,” a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said, adding that Washington should back off and not interfere.
On Monday, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov accused the US of organizing a “coup” in Venezuela.
Some reports said that the soldiers were there to operate air defense systems bought from Russia.
The US has reacted angrily to Russia’s move, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing Washington’s displeasure in a tweet that borrowed a Maduro hashtag usually aimed at America.
“Maduro calls for hands off Venezuela while he invites security forces from Cuba and Russia, so he and his cronies can keep plundering Venezuela,” Pompeo posted. “It is time for Venezuelan institutions to stand for their sovereignty. Russia and Cuba, #HandsOffVenezuela.”
The US tactics, so far, have been focused on ratcheting up sanctions, which are to jump to a critical level for Venezuela on April 28, when the US is to impose a ban on imports of Venezuelan oil.
Months of increasingly tough US sanctions, coupled with mismanagement by Maduro’s regime, as well as corruption and many years of infrastructure underinvestment, have taken a toll. Between Monday and late Wednesday, Venezuelans endured their second nationwide blackout this month.
The outages knocked out transport, water supplies and communications, closing schools and public offices, while also reducing frozen stocks of already scarce food.
Analysts said the oil sector, which brings in 96 percent of state revenue, was all but paralyzed.
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