MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2019) Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido has announced that he intends to return to Venezuela this week after illegally traveling to Colombia in defiance of the travel ban imposed by the Venezuelan Supreme Court.
On February 22, Guaido arrived in the Colombian border of Cucuta, where the so-called humanitarian aid from the United States and a number of other countries was being collected, in order to help deliver the supplies to Venezuela despite the fact that the legitimate government has refused to accept the aid. While the attempt to forcefully bring the aid into Venezuela failed, Guaido stayed in Colombia to take part in Monday's meeting of the Lima Group in Bogota.�
"We are returning to Venezuela this week," Guaido told reporters after the Lime Group meeting, as quoted by the BioBio radio station.
On January 5, Guaido was elected as president of the Venezuelan opposition-run National Assembly, whose authority has not been recognized by any other branch of power since 2016. On January 23, days after the Supreme Court nullified Guaido's election as the National Assembly's head, the opposition leader proclaimed himself Venezuelan interim president.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose new presidential term, disputed by the opposition that boycotted last year's election, began on January 10, accused "US puppet" Guaido of trying to stage a US-orchestrated coup.
The United States and around 50 other countries have endorsed the opposition leader as the Venezuelan acting president.
China and Russia, along with many other countries, have voiced their support for Maduro's legitimate government. Mexico and Uruguay, in turn, have refused to back Guaido and declared themselves neutral, promoting dialogue as a means to resolve the crisis in the country.
