Venezuelan amb. to Iraq supports Guaido as country’s leader, renounces Maduro
Ramirez iss the first high-ranking diplomat from Caracas to renounce the sitting President, Nicolas Maduro, and support
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Venezuelan Ambassador to Iraq Jonathan Velasco Ramirez has announced his support for the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly Juan Guaido as the country’s leader.
In a video message which was circulated on social media, Ramirez said that supporting Guaido “is our obligation, duty and constitutional responsibility.”
“Mr. President, Guaido, you are on the right side of history, the people and the Constitution, which is why we place you at the service of the State, which you constitutionally represent and direct,” the Daily Mail quoted Ramirez as saying.
The envoy further called on the Venezuelan army to remove sitting president Nicolas Maduro from power.
“Maduro and his clan of usurpers overcame a barrier that breaks the permissible limit of being a State official and another accomplice of a usurper, despotic, autocratic and dictatorial government,” he said.
“Brothers of the Armed Forces, do not allow them to turn you into an army of mercenaries who kill the people,” he concluded.
The Venezuela presidential crisis escalated after Guaido proclaimed himself as interim president. The U.S. and several of its allies immediately recognized Guaido as legitimate interim president.
Russia, along with Mexico, Uruguay, China, Iran and Turkey and other states were among the countries that have voiced their support for Maduro as the only legitimate leader.