22.02.2019, Caracas.
Speaker of the opposition parliament of Venezuela Juan Guaido can declare elections in Venezuela himself. This was the message of the legally elected President of the country before medical university graduates on February 19th. The broadcasted speech was posted on the President’s Twitter.
During his speech, Venezuelan President stressed that Guaido does not want to act in a democratic manner. Maduro said that the opposition leader could declare elections to give the people of Venezuela the opportunity to voice their opinion. “Let the self-proclaimed clown declare elections and be thrown out by the vote,” Maduro said.
Political crisis in Venezuela began on January 23rd, after the speaker of the opposition National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaido declared himself the country’s acting president for as long as the temporary government is in power. Literally 30 minutes after, Guaido was acknowledged as acting president of Venezuela by US president Donald Trump.
The US authorities, as well as a number of other countries, demand that the current President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro to recognize the elections as illegal and surrender power. Additionally, Maduro is under pressure to “prevent military action against the opposition.”
Juan Guaido in his interview to CNN on January 29 confirmed that he met US President Trump in person before declaring himself acting head of state. Guaido also said that the night before this act he had consultations with US Vice-President Mike Pence.
The Venezuelan military, on whose the decision the fate of the Bolivarian Republic largely depends, supports the sitting President Maduro by majority, which was once again confirmed by Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez in his TV-address to the citizens of the country on February 19th.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
