Venezuela’s Guaido courts Russia; powers divided on Maduro

Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido talks to media next to his wife Fabiana Rosales, while carrying their daughter outside their home after a meeting with supporters to present a government plan of the opposition in Caracas, Venezuela 31 January 2019 – Reuters

CARACAS (Reuters): Global jostling intensified on Thursday between countries that want Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in power and those trying to force him to resign, as opposition leader Juan Guaido made overtures to his rival’s allies Russia and China.

Guaido told Reuters he had sent communications to both powers, which are Venezuela’s top foreign creditors and support Maduro in the UN Security Council despite worries about the cash-strapped country’s ability to pay.

The 35-year-old leader argued that Russia and China’s interests would be best served by switching the side they back in Venezuela, an OPEC member which has the world’s largest oil reserves but is in dire financial straits.

“What most suits Russia and China is the country’s stability and a change of government,” Guaido said. “Maduro does not protect Venezuela, he doesn’t protect anyone’s investments, and he is not a good deal for those countries.”

The intense pressure is led by the United States, which along with most other countries in the Western Hemisphere recognizes Guaido as the country’s legitimate interim president, arguing that Maduro stole his second-term election.

The United States on Monday imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm, aimed at pressuring Maduro to step down.

A former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister, the 56-year-old Maduro, who first took office in 2013, has faced waves of protests in recent years as he presided over hyperinflation and chronic food shortages. Some 3 million Venezuelans have left the country. A UN expert on Thursday warned that the US oil sanctions could worsen the humanitarian crisis.

With Venezuela in deep economic crisis, the geopolitical tussling has also drawn in Europe and Latin American nations as well as parts of the Middle East.

The US government warned Russia and other countries from “last-minute looting” of oil and gold on Thursday, after Reuters reported Venezuela was planning to sell gold from its central bank vaults to the United Arab Emirates in coming days in return for euros in cash, citing a senior source. The United States is also monitoring trade between its NATO ally Turkey and Venezuela and will take action if it judges any sanctions have been violated, a senior US official said in Istanbul.

Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, has stood by Maduro, calling him last week to express support.

Guaido said on Thursday that agents from a feared special police unit had called at his home and asked for his wife, who was at home with their 20-month-old daughter while he was out at an event.

“Such acts of intimidation are seen as very serious, very egregious by the United States,” a senior US administration official told reporters on a conference call. “There will be consequences for those engaged in such acts.”