UK: Juan Guaido will take Venezuela 'forward'

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – The U.K. believes Venezuelan opposition leader “Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward” and it is “supporting the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to make that happen,” Britain’s foreign minister said Thursday.

Speaking ahead of his meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Jeremy Hunt said the U.K. is “extremely concerned about the situation in Venezuela, but it is clear Nicholas Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela.”

Hunt said the May 20, 2018 election in Venezuela “was deeply flawed -- ballot boxes were stuffed, there were counting irregularities and the opposition was banned.

“This regime has done untold damage to the people of Venezuela. Ten percent of the population have left Venezuela such is the misery they are suffering,” Hunt added.

Describing Juan Guaido is the “right person to take Venezuela forward,” Hunt said, “we are supporting the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina to make that happen.”

Hunt said: “I will be meeting Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo later this afternoon to discuss this further.”

“But for anyone in the UK who thinks that Venezuela is an example, who thinks that we should be adopting the policies supported by the discredited Maduro regime, they need to look at their TV screens and think again.

“This regime has caused untold suffering to its people.”

Earlier Thursday, the U.K. gave direct support to Guaido, who declared himself the country’s president, with a statement from the prime minister’s office.

“The 2018 presidential election in Venezuela was neither free nor fair, so the regime’s basis for power is deeply flawed,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May.

“We fully support the democratically elected National Assembly with Juan Guaido as its president,” he said.

The statements came amid a government crisis in Caracas, where the leader of the National Assembly, Guaido, on Wednesday declared himself the acting president of Venezuela, a move immediately recognized by the U.S.

May’s spokesman also said: “In relation to the U.S, we think it is totally unacceptable for Venezuela to cut off diplomatic ties. The solution to this crisis lies in working to find a peaceful and diplomatic solution, not in expulsions.”

Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10 when Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycott by the opposition. Several South American countries, Russia and Turkey have also expressed solidarity with Maduro.

Brazil and the Organization of American States recognized Guaido as Venezuela's leader prior to his formal announcement. Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama and Paraguay have followed suit while Bolivia and Mexico continue to recognize Maduro.

Maduro has slammed the decision of Trump and said his country was cutting off diplomatic relations with the U.S., giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country.

He has repeatedly lashed out at the U.S., saying Washington is waging an economic war against him and his government amid a sweeping sanctions campaign.