Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno has called Venezuela a failed state. “Venezuela today is a completely failed state, and this should not go on like that,” Moreno said after a meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido in Salinas.
Guaido in turn thanked Moreno for assistance in “liberating” the Bolivarian Republic. “I thank [Ecuador’s] President Lenin Moreno for supporting our efforts to liberate and restore Venezuela,” Guaido wrote on his official Twitter account. He also noted that Ecuadorians and Venezuelans are fraternal peoples. “We will continue expanding cooperation and strengthening our relations,” he said.
On January 23 Juan Guaido, leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, proclaimed himself as the country’s interim president.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described it as a coup attempt backed by the United States and announced severing diplomatic relations with the US. On January 28 the US imposed sancitons on Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA oil company.
Guaido has been recognized as interim president by the U.S., Canada, the Lima Group countries (except for Mexico), other Latin American and several European Union countries.
Maduro is supported by Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey. Belarus and China called for resolving all issues by peaceful means and spoke against any interference from the outside.
The UN secretary general has called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.
