Caracas' Main Goal To Prevent US Intervention Amid Crisis - Ambassador To Russia

The primary goal on the agenda of the Venezuelan leadership right now is to prevent a US military intervention in the country, Venezuela's Ambassador to Russia Carlos Rafael Faria Tortosa said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) The Primary goal on the agenda of the Venezuelan leadership right now is to prevent a US military intervention in the country, Venezuela's Ambassador to Russia Carlos Rafael Faria Tortosa said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president. The United States urged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down and let Guaido assume the presidency. Maduro has claimed that Washington attempted to stage a coup d'etat in Venezuela and announced decision to cut off diplomatic ties with the United States.

"The Supreme Commander [Maduro] has already decided to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. But we will proceed with caution, we will wait for 72 hours.

The main thing now is not to give the United States a reason for a military invasion," Faria Tortosa told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

Washington's pressure on Caracas has started 20 years ago, when then-President Hugo Chavez began implementing an independent policy, the ambassador noted.

"Venezuela has huge reserves of oil, gold and other minerals, and it is not surprising that in order to maintain its level of consumption, the United States seeks to seize all this on its own terms," Faria Tortosa said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier in the day that recent events in Venezuela were a gross violation of the country's sovereignty and blamed the United States for interfering.