Select date
‘New Operation Condor’: Ecuadorian ex-president Correa slams US-backed Venezuela coup attempt
Washington’s support for Venezuela’s opposition head, who “ignores all laws” in his power grab, is a step away from the bloody crackdown on dissent South America suffered under US-backed dictators before, Rafael Correa told RT.
A situation, in which a man “declares himself an ‘interim’ president” and immediately gets recognition from 11 Latin American countries and the US, is “unseen,” Correa said, commenting on the latest developments in the crisis-ridden Venezuela and referring to the opposition head Juan Guaido.
Guiado, who is currently the President of the National Assembly, swore an oath and declared himself interim president on Wednesday as thousands took to the streets calling for Maduro to leave office. Minutes later, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize the man as Venezuela’s interim leader.
The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela. https://t.co/WItWPiG9jK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2019
Elsewhere in the Americas, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru all followed suit within two hours of the US move.
Also on rt.com Washington orchestrates coup in Venezuela, incites civil war, in name of ‘democracy’
The countries, which supported the development, called for a coup against Venezuela’s elected president, Nicolas Maduro, even before Guaido made his move, Correa said, adding that it was nothing but a push for a regime change. He also said that the opposition head “ignored the constriction, laws, election … procedures” in his self-manifestation as “nothing of this sort is in the constitution.”
However, those pushing for the coup were apparently not very much concerned about the legal formalities but were instead focused on their own interests, according to Correa, who said the development set a dangerous precedent for such an approach to be extended on any other country, whose “government the US does not like,” regardless of whether it is democratic or not.
“One can talk about a new Operation Condor now,” Correa said, referring to an infamous opposition purge and state terror campaign launched by some US-backed South American dictatorships in 1975.
“This is an impressive blow,” the ex-president said, referring to the development in Venezuela. “They avoid resorting to the military [action], assassinations or kidnappings for now because they do not need it. One cannot rule out that they could still resort to such methods” in the future, Correa warned.
Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.
