MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2020) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has responded to comments made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding the Sunday election to Venezuela's National Assembly.
Pompeo challenged the legitimacy of the parliamentary election in Venezuela on Sunday.
"Venezuela's electoral fraud has already been committed. The results announced by the illegitimate Maduro regime will not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people. What's happening today is a fraud and a sham, not an election," Pompeo said on Twitter.
Responding to Pompeo's claims, Arreaza said on Twitter that US attempts to exert political influence in Venezuela have failed.
"A zombie has spoken! Although according to his Boss [US President Donald Trump] there was a fraud in the US elections. @SecPompeo, take truth calmly and resignedly: in Venezuela, your failure is absolute. We hope that soon Diplomacy returns to the State Department and the White House," the Venezuelan foreign minister said.
Over 100 political parties and associations are participating in the Sunday parliamentary election in Venezuela. The opposition bloc of Juan Guaido, a failed coup leader, has refused to participate in the vote. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that he was ready to resign if the opposition wins the Sunday elections.
Maduro voted earlier on Sunday and called on all political forces to engage in an inclusive national dialogue after the elections.
In January 2019, Venezuela plunged into a political crisis when the then-head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust reelected President Maduro from power. The United States and most Western countries endorsed Guaido and slapped crippling sanctions on Venezuela. Russia, China, Turkey and several other nations have been supporting Maduro.
