Caracas/Moscow - US President Donald
Trump spoke to Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president by
phone on Wednesday, reiterating support for his "fight to regain
democracy," as Washington's push to force socialist President
Nicolas Maduro from power picked up steam.
The White House said Trump and Juan Guaido, the opposition
leader trying to replace Maduro, agreed to maintain regular
communication after Venezuelan authorities opened an
investigation that could lead to Guaido's arrest.
The moves against Guaido, 35, including a travel ban and
assets freeze, were in retaliation for oil sanctions imposed by
the United States this week. They intensified the fight to
control Venezuela, an OPEC nation that has the world's largest
oil reserves.
The U.S. president spoke to Guaido to "congratulate him on
his historic assumption of the presidency and to reinforce
President Trump’s strong support for Venezuela’s fight to regain
its democracy," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
Guaido thanked Trump for the U.S. commitment to freedom and
prosperity in Venezuela and the region and noted the importance
of planned protests across the country against Maduro on
Wednesday and Saturday, she said in a statement.
"They agreed to maintain regular communication to support
Venezuela’s path back to stability, and to rebuild the bilateral
relationship between the United States and Venezuela," Sanders
said.
Maduro, 56, accused Trump of ordering his assassination,
while his main global backer Russia called on Wednesday for
mediation in a standoff that is splitting foreign powers.
Maduro, facing the biggest challenge to his rule since
replacing Hugo Chavez six years ago, said Trump had ordered
neighboring Colombia to murder him.
"Donald Trump has without doubt given an order to kill me
and has told the government of Colombia and the Colombian mafia
to kill me," Maduro said in an interview with Moscow's RIA news
agency, reprising an accusation that he and Chavez have often
made over the years.
Bogota and Washington have routinely denied that, while foes
say Maduro uses such accusations as a smokescreen when in
trouble.
However, speculation about military action against him was
fueled this week when Trump national security adviser John
Bolton carried a notepad with the words "5,000 troops to
Colombia". U.S. Major General Mark Stammer, the commander of
U.S. Army South, was in Colombia on Wednesday, U.S. embassy
officials said.
Russia, which like China has loaned and invested billions of
dollars in OPEC member Venezuela, called on Guaido to drop his
demand for a snap election and instead accept mediation.
However, given the failure of previous rounds of dialogue
between the government and opposition, including one led by the
Vatican, opponents are suspicious, believing Maduro uses them to
quell protests and buy time.
Venezuela's Supreme Court imposed the travel ban on Guaido
and froze his bank accounts in apparent retaliation for the U.S.
oil sanctions, which are expected to deliver another blow to an
already collapsing economy. Some 3 million Venezuelans have left
the country amid food shortages and hyperinflation.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump warned U.S. citizens against
traveling to Venezuela, given the unrest.
GLOBAL STANDOFF
The United States is Venezuela's largest crude importer,
ahead of India and China, but the new measures limit
transactions between U.S. companies and state oil company PDVSA.
Oil prices rose nearly 3 percent on Wednesday, boosted by
U.S. government data that showed signs of tightening supply, as
investors remained concerned about supply disruptions because of
Venezuela
Guaido, an opposition lawmaker who is president of the
National Assembly, has been recognized as president by the
United States and most Western Hemisphere nations. He says
Maduro fraudulently won elections last year and is offering an
amnesty to military officials.
Maduro, who took office for his second term this month and
who accuses Guaido of staging a U.S.-directed coup against him,
still has the support of senior military officers. He is
unlikely to back down unless that changes.
In the RIA interview, Maduro reiterated he was ready for
talks with the opposition, but rejected as blackmail calls for a
snap election.
"I won legitimately," he said of last year's election. "If
the imperialists want a new election, let them wait until 2025."
Maduro also expressed "pleasure and gratitude" for Russian
President Vladimir Putin's help.
Sources have told Reuters private military contractors who
do secret missions for Moscow were in Venezuela.
Guaido called for protests on Wednesday and a mass march at
the weekend. More than 40 people have died so far in and around
the protests that began a week ago, the U.N. human rights office
said. Hundreds have also been arrested, including children.
Government supporters have also attended large rallies led
by Maduro allies, while the president visited military bases in
recent days. He ordered the creation of 50,000 popular defense
units, community groups charged with the "integral defense of
the fatherland."
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab sought a preliminary
investigation of Guaido on the basis that he helped foreign
interference in Venezuela. Announcing the moves against Guaido,
Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno, a major Maduro ally, said
the measures were to "protect the integrity of the country."