White House Security Council Praises Venezuelan Attache's Move to Break Ties With Maduro

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2019) Garret Marquis, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, praised on Sunday the decision by Col. Jose Luis Silva, a military attache at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, to break ties with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Silva told the El Nuevo Herald daily newspaper that he recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the "true president of Venezuela."

"The Venezuelan Military Attache in DC [District of Columbia] just confirmed constitutional allegiance to the interim President, Juan Guaido. An example that the role of the military is to protect constitutional order, not to sustain dictators and repress its own people. Encourage others to do the same," Marquis posted on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the situation in Venezuela, which has been hit by mass protests since the beginning of the week, escalated when the opposition-controlled National Assembly declared that Maduro had usurped power.

Guaido, the National Assembly speaker, proclaimed himself interim president on the following day.

The United States along with some other states recognized Guaido as the interim president, after which Maduro accused the United States of organizing a coup in Venezuela. Maduro also decided to cut off diplomatic relations with the United States and asked US diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. However, the United States has refused to withdraw its diplomats.

Russia has stressed that it only recognizes Maduro as the legitimately elected Venezuelan president.