On Thursday Moscow and Beijing stated their support for Venezuela against meddling by the United States through military interference, which includes a planned coup d’état.
Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev wrote on Facebook on Thursday that Juan Guaido has violated the country’s constitution.
“There are all signs of a state coup in Venezuela. Claims can be made against both opposing sides but declaring oneself president cannot be considered as a constitutional move in any country,” he said. “The experience we gained in a similar situation in 1993 shows that confrontation between the branches of government leads to no good and launching talks between the parties is the only way out for Venezuela,” the Russian senator added.
The Interfax news agency reported that the Russian Foreign ministry says “only Venezuelans have the right to determine their future,” and that “destructive external intervention is unacceptable,” citing a catastrophic outcome.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the United States’ intention to interfere with Venezuela was unsurprising, further noting that “the swearing in of a ‘president in charge of Venezuela’ opposition, and its immediate recognition in that capacity by the U.S. and several regional states, aims to increase the division in Venezuela, incite violence and essentially seeks to destabilize the internal political situation and further escalate conflict.”
The remarks by Russia came after the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Juan Gauido, declared himself the legitimate president of Venezuela.
The United States, Canada, the countries of the Lima Group, Brazil and Chile, among others, confirmed their support of Gauido.
Nicolas Maduro followed up with the announcement of breaking ties with the U.S. and gave its personnel 72 hours to leave Venezuela.
Meanwhile, China also declared full support for Maduro, sternly rejecting the “intrusion in internal affairs” by the United States
“China supports the efforts of the Government of Venezuela to maintain its sovereignty, independence and stability,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying remarked in a press conference.
The Chinese official expressed opposition to all external interference and recommends a peaceful resolution. “We hope that all parties will oppose any external interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela, the complication of the situation will not contribute to the maintenance of stability,” Hua said.
“We always follow the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, we oppose foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela and we hope that the international community will also follow this principle,” concluded the statement.
