CARACAS (AA): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday vowed that they “will finally win” and his country would survive the “coup attempt”.
In an interview with Turkish private broadcaster CNN Turk, Maduro stressed that his country has no political and diplomatic relations with the U.S. and described Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as “the words of a falling country”.
“Mr. Pompeo is a spokesman for the country that threatens us. However, the power of the country we are talking about is in decline. There are new strong countries and leaders in the world. There are countries economically and politically developed,” he said.
On Saturday, Pompeo had called on the UN Security Council to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of the country.
“[Pompeo] doesn’t respect anyone and thinks he can rule by shouting and threatening. No one can shout at us. He can say what he wants about me, but I protect my country, my people and my history.
The Turkish people will see that we will finally win. We’re going to survive this coup attempt,” the Venezuelan president said.
On Wednesday, following mass demonstrations throughout the country, Gauido, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, announced President Nicolas Maduro as illegitimate and declared himself as the interim president.
At least 20 people have died in the protests, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Soon after, U.S. President Donald Trump put out a statement recognizing Guaido as the president of the country.
Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama and Paraguay have followed suit while Bolivia and Mexico continue to recognize Maduro.
Russia and China both opposed the U.S. call to support Guaido, and condemned any international interference in the affairs of Venezuela. Turkey and Iran have put their weight behind incumbent President Maduro.
– ‘No room for racism and hate’
Maduro said the U.S. President Donald Trump is not a leader who can deal with the problems and underlined that Trump “belittles” Venezuela, Latin America and the world.
“He belittled the whole world and as a Latin American, I can say that he hates us. This is unacceptable because there is no room for racism and hate in today’s world,” Maduro said.
Pointing out that his country has been under many financial and economic attacks, Maduro vowed to overcome hyper-inflation in 2019.
“We are going through a historical war for Venezuela, for our democracy and independence,” Maduro said, and accused the U.S. of the recent crises in his country.
“They [the U.S.] attack us thinking that Venezuela is their own backyard,” he said.
Maduro said his country is a victim of the ongoing attacks and the U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all targeted Venezuela.
“We have been attacked since [former President Hugo] Chavez’s death,” he said, stressing things has gone worse during the Trump Administration.
Maduro accused the U.S. of attacking on Venezuela and planning a coup attempt in the country.
He underlined that Guaido’s declaring himself acting president was “unlawful”.”The American news agencies and The Washington Post reported on January 22 that this coup attempt order had been given to Guaido by Trump himself,” Maduro said.
– No one can give ultimatum to Venezuela
On some European countries’ statements which say they will recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s acting president if elections are not announced soon, Maduro said Europe was “again making a mistake”.
“Europeans were arrogant in this process. They should take back this ultimatum. No one can give us an ultimatum,” he said.
Recalling last year’s presidential elections in his country, Maduro said he won the election with 65 percent of votes, and the parliamentary elections were going to be held in 2020. He said Venezuela’s electoral system is quite modern and that they use the national observer system. Maduro noted the diplomatic staff of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas had left his country, however, the both sides agreed to continue negotiations for the protection of officials in the two countries.
For that reason, a small group of the U.S. and Venezuelan diplomats were present in each other’s countries to take part in 30-day negotiations, he added.
