Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Gil has said in a statement that any resolution to the crisis in the country should be through a dialogue between the opposition and the government.
“We can assure our strategic partners here in Russia that there is neither a possibility of a military coup, nor of a popular uprising in Venezuela, because most of the population understands what is happening and is mobilized to support the legitimate government”, Gil said at a Moscow meeting with lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament.
Gil added, though, that there was always the risk of external interference that could “wreak havoc”.
He continued on by saying that Venezuela’s oil industry is one of the country’s main targets.
Venezuela is ready for a dialogue with the opposition and maintains in constant contact with its representatives, according to Ivan Gil.
“Any decision that will help resolve differences between the opposition and the government should be made through a national dialogue, so we supported the proposal by the group from Mexico, Uruguay, and the CARICOM countries, which includes four phases of conflict resolution”, Gil said in Russia’s Federation Council.
The statements come amid a highly-tense situation surrounding the delivery of US humanitarian aid to the Latin American country.
On 21 February, Maduro announced the complete closure of the land border with Brazil, where another aid hub is situated. The president has not ruled out the possibility that the border with Colombia might be closed as well.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself acting president in late January, has welcomed the delivery of the US aid to the country, citing the acute humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. According to the opposition, the assistance will enter the country on 23 February.
President Nicolas Maduro, for his part, has categorically rejected accepting aid that the United States has delivered to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, blaming Washington for trying to organize a coup in the country through a “Muppet” Guaido and using humanitarian aid as one of the means to overthrow his government.
Source: Sputnik
