US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview said top Venezuelan officials have not been as clear about abandoning President Nicolas Maduro.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed that Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, Presidential Guard Commander Rafael Hernandez Dala and Supreme Court Chief Judge Maikel Moreno had pledged to support the opposition’s attempted coup.
Padrino publicly vowed to crush the attempted coup, saying Venezuela’s armed forces remained loyal to Maduro and the country’s constitution.
Guaido, who illegally proclaimed himself interim president in January, called on Venezuelans and the country’s military to join his attempt to overthrow the legitimate Maduro government.
Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, who had been under house arrest for two years, had recently taken refuge in the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas.
However, Spain’s foreign minister, Josep Borrell, vowed that his country would not allow its embassy in the capital of Venezuela to become a center for hostile political activities for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.
Venezuela’s envoy in Madrid, Mario Isea, has lashed out at Spain for permitting Lopez to abet the recent botched military uprising, led by the opposition leader Juan Guaido, from the ambassador’s residence.
However, the Spanish government said it was not going to hand Lopez over to Venezuelan authorities, in defiance of the arrest warrant issued for him by Nicolas Maduro’s government.
A Russian military delegation will arrive in Caracas this weekend, and according to a Sputnik source, is planning to discuss defense industry issues with Venezuelan counterparts.
After the arrival of Russian Defense Ministry officials in Caracas, media released photographs depicting Russian S-300 air defense missile systems deployed in the country and claimed that Venezuela had just installed the complexes on its territory.
Sputnik / ABC Flash Point News 2019.
The lobbying Zionists?
Lobby stands for bribery and extortion?