Ukraine backs Juan Guaido’s presidency in Venezuela
Ukraine supports Juan Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela who recently declared himself president of the country, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter.
“Responding with force to the demands of peaceful protesters is a shortcut for the government to lose its legitimacy. We are betting on the National Assembly and the wisdom of its president Juan Guaidó to emerge from this political crisis,” Klimkin said in the tweet.
The opposition’s demands for new elections have also been supported by the European Union.
A new wave of protests swept through Venezuela on Monday 21 January, when the country’s Defense Ministry reported that there had been a failed military insurgence in the capital, Caracas. Officials arrested dozens of people who participated in the attempted uprising. One of the primary instigators of the protests was Juan Guaidó, who was appointed head of the National Assembly at the start of January, and has been actively calling for the current president Nicolás Maduro to be removed from power.
On Wednesday, Guaidó declared himself temporary president of Venezuela. So far, his claims have been recognized by the US, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile and Panama.