Opponents of the legitimate Venezuelan government led by President Nicolas Maduro have not abandoned their attempts to carry out an armed coup in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday, commenting on a recent attack on a military unit in Venezuela
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th December, 2019) Opponents of the legitimate Venezuelan government led by President Nicolas Maduro have not abandoned their attempts to carry out an armed coup in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday, commenting on a recent attack on a military unit in Venezuela.On Sunday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said that forces loyal to the opposition attacked a military unit in the country's south, and that one soldier was killed during this "terrorist attack." According to Caracas, the attackers were trained in Colombia and received support from Brazil and Peru.
"This armed attack demonstrates that the radical part of the opposition has resumed its provocation tactics aimed at stirring armed clashes and creating chaos. Due to the efficiency and professionalism of the Venezuelan military, it was possible to prevent over 100 units of small arms from falling into the hands of terrorists. Obviously, opponents of the legitimate Venezuelan authorities are not abandoning their attempts to carry out a coup in the country," Zakharova said at a briefing.
She added that Russia strongly condemned any extremist measures as well as attempts to justify them and slammed Washington for continuously interfering in the domestic affairs of Latin American countries in the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine, which claimed the Western Hemisphere as a part of the United States' sphere of influence.
Earlier in December, media reported, citing Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez, that the US-backed Venezuelan opposition had been preparing a terrorist attack on the country's military in the northern state of Sucre to disrupt Christmas celebrations. However, the plot was successfully thwarted.
Venezuela has been suffering from a severe political crisis since late January when Juan Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust reelected Maduro from power. Maduro has accused Guaido of being a US puppet and working with Washington to orchestrate a coup so that the United States can control Venezuela's natural resources. A number of Western countries led by the US recognized Guaido, while Russia, China, Turkey and a number of other states firmly backed Maduro.
