Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has criticized Bolivia's recent decision to join a US-backed group of regional powers known as the Lima Group
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2019) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has criticized Bolivia's recent decision to join a US-backed group of regional powers known as the Lima Group.
On Sunday, Bolivia's interim government officially joined the ranks of 12 other Central and South American nations, as well as Canada, which oppose Nicolas Maduro's government.
"Here you see the entire underside of the Lima Group (cartel). The presumed and ardent defenders of the democracies and human rights have brutally suppressed their peoples and now admit into their ranks a dictatorship [that is] fascist, racist, and a product of a bloody coup d'etat," Arreaza said in a statement published by his office.
Arreaza referred to Bolivia's interim government, headed by Jeanine Anez, which took over after weeks of unrest following a presidential election riddled with accusations of fraud and manipulation. The election winner, long-time socialist leader and staunch anti-imperialist Evo Morales, was soon forced out of office when Bolivia's armed forces withdrew support for him. Morales first took asylum in Mexico but has since moved to Argentina, where he has been vocally criticizing the more right-wing, US-friendly Anez government.
Venezuela has long been experiencing extreme economic hardships, leading to widespread instability and coup attempts. Following Maduro's inauguration to a second term, protests against him took place in January 2019, causing him to flee the country. Meanwhile, head of the Venezuelan National Assembly and opposition figure Juan Guaido swore himself in as interim president and garnered support from many Western powers. However, Venezuela's armed forces, government bodies and many sections of the population remained strictly on Maduro's side, which resulted in a lackluster coup attempt.
South America has been rife with instability and regime change over the last year, with nearly all governments changing hands, sometimes peacefully, and most commonly with a shift to the right.
