New York: The Venezuelan government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, is ready to meet with self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido without preconditions to arrive at a solution for the political crisis in the Latin American nation.
“How can there be preconditions between Venezuelans? The government has been saying: you are Venezuelan, I am Venezuelan. Let’s sit down together. We have our Constitution. Let us sit down and engage in dialogue. Let us try to find a solution without any kind of strings attached, or any kind of preconditions,” Xinhua quoted Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza as saying.
“This kind of arrogance (by insisting on preconditions) would just hinder dialogue. That’s why we say we are waiting for the opposition to get through its pursuit of independence from the U.S. government … and then we can sit down with the opposition and agree and negotiate in line with the Constitution, and find a Venezuelan solution,” the official told reporters outside the UN headquarters here on Tuesday.
Venezuela has been under political turmoil since January 10 after Maduro was sworn-in for a second six-year term as the President, prompting protests by the country’s Opposition. Subsequently, Guaido, on January 23, proclaimed himself as the president, despite Maduro winning the presidential elections last year.
The United States was the first to extend its support to Guaido, and rallied for other nations to back the National Assembly President.
Furthermore, Washington also announced that it was ready to provide more than USD 20 million in initial humanitarian assistance to Venezuela for the country to cope with severe food and medicine shortages, shortly after Guaido’s recognition.
While most European countries have also recognised Guaido as the interim President, countries like Russia, China, Turkey, amongst others, have slammed foreign interference in Venezuela and shown support for Maduro.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]