Organisers of Venezuelan Turmoil Failed to Predict Maduro's Resistance - Madrid

MADRID (Sputnik) - The organisers of riots in Venezuela failed to estimate the consequences of this situation and they did not expect that President Nicolas Maduro would be able to show resistance, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said.

"Perhaps, when this process began, someone behind it did not think that Maduro would be able to show resistance", Borrell told Sexta broadcaster.

The statement comes after protests and violent clashes between the Venezuelan security officers and protesters that erupted in late February along the Venezuelan borders after the Venezuelan opposition tried to forcefully bring in the so-called humanitarian aid from a hub in Brazil and in Colombia, in defiance of Caracas' ban on accepting US-sponsored aid.

Mass anti-government protests initially erupted in Venezuela in late January after Maduro had taken the oath of office following his victory in last year's presidential election, which had been boycotted by a part of the country's opposition.

On 5 January, lawmaker Juan Guaido was elected the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016. On 23 January, two days after the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled his election, Guaido declared himself the country's "interim president." Maduro qualified Guaido's move as an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington.

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The United States immediately recognised Guaido, after which some 50 other countries followed the suit. Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and a number of other states have, in the meantime, voiced their support for the legitimate government of Maduro. Mexico and Uruguay have refused to recognize Guaido, declaring themselves neutral and promoting crisis settlement via dialogue.

Spain was among the countries that recognized US-backed opposition leader Guiado as interim president of Venezuela, prompting an angry response from democratically-elected president Maduro.