Page 15 - AHATA

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 5 January 2019
Foreign diplomats urge Venezuela's Maduro to hand over power

By FRANKLIN BRICENO Andres Manuel Lopez Ob-
SCOTT SMITH rador is a member of the
Associated Press coalition but abstained
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Diplo- from the vote.
mats from a dozen Latin His administration has ad-
American countries and opted a policy of non-
Canada on Friday urged intervention, and Maduro
President Nicolas Maduro traveled to Obrador's inau-
to abstain from being sworn guration, meeting private-
in for a second term and ly with the new Mexican
cede power until new elec- leader.
tions can be held, saying it The United States is not
is the only way to restore formally a member of the
democracy in Venezuela. Lima Group, but U.S. Secre-
The strong rebuke from the tary of State Mike Pompeo
Lima Group urging Madu- participated in the meet-
ro to hand over power to ing via video conference.
the opposition-controlled It follows Pompeo's recent
National Assembly comes visit to Latin America during
days before his Jan. 10 in- which he attended the in-
auguration to a six-year auguration of Brazil's Presi-
term widely rejected as il- Chile's Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero, center, attends a meeting of the Lima Group concern- dent Jair Bolsonaro and
legitimate. ing Venezuela in Lima, Peru, Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. then stopped in Colombia
Even before announcing Associated Press to meet with President Ivan
its decision, the gathering Duque. Both Bolsonaro and
in Peru's capital prompted A once-wealthy oil nation, advocate for a solution and Mexico are among Duque signaled a united
a sharp response from Ven- Venezuela is in crisis after to Venezuela's crisis that the group's members. Peru- stance against Maduro's
ezuela's Foreign Minister two decades of socialist threatens regional instabil- vian Foreign Minister Nestor government aligned with
Jorge Arreaza, who said rule, marked by hyperinfla- ity. Popolizio recently had said the United States.
the coalition is taking or- tion that makes it difficult Immediately following his country would propose The Trump administration
ders directly from U.S. Presi- for people to afford scarce Maduro's May 20 re-elec- that Lima Group members considers Maduro's gov-
dent Donald Trump, which food and medicine. An es- tion, the coalition said it break diplomatic relations ernment a "dictatorship,"
Caracas frequently ac- timated 2.3 million Venezu- refused to recognize the with Venezuela. sanctioning roughly 70 top
cuses of spearheading an elans have migrated from results, decrying the vote However, the political officials and blocking U.S.
economic war against the their country since 2015, as failing to meet "interna- make-up of the coalition banks from doing busi-
country. according to the United tional standards of a dem- has recently shifted, most ness with Venezuela, put-
"What a display of humiliat- Nations. ocratic, free, just and trans- notably in Mexico. ting a financial strangle-
ing subordination!" Arreaza The Lima Group formed parent process." The newly elected govern- hold on the cash-strapped
said on Twitter. more than a year ago to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia ment of Mexican President country.q

Brazil's Bolsonaro sees threat in Russia, considers US base

By MAURICIO SAVARESE cussed during Pompeo's Former Brazilian national
PETER PRENGAMAN recent visit to Brasilia. Bolso- security secretary Jose Vi-
Associated Press naro did not clarify where cente da Silva believes
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil is in Brazil he would like to see such a base could be ad-
open to hosting a U.S. mili- an American base. vantageous.
tary base to counter Rus- American and Brazilian "We have a long coop-
sian influence in the region, military forces collaborated eration, especially with the
the South American coun- between 1941 and 1945, a DEA (Drug Enforcement
try's new far-right president partnership that included Administration). The Ameri-
said. an air base near Natal. cans have concerns in the
Jair Bolsonaro, who took Then U.S. President Frank- Amazon because of drug
office on Tuesday, is a fan lin Roosevelt called Natal trafficking. Brazil has Ameri-
of U.S. President Donald — the closest point in the can technology to monitor
Trump and a fierce critic of Americas to Africa — the borders and could obtain
Venezuela's socialist Presi- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro holds a ceremony to present his "Trampoline to Victory" dur- new technologies," Da Silva
dent Nicolas Maduro. cabinet members at the presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, ing World War II because it told The Associated Press.
In the interview to the SBT Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. kept allied troops in Africa In Thursday's TV interview
network Thursday night, Associated Press supplied. During part of Bolsonaro praised Israeli
Bolsonaro said he is wor- the war, the Brazilian costal Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-
ried about Russia's close- but it could also be war- talk about it (a U.S. base) in town had one of was the tanyahu and his Hungarian
ness with Venezuela. In De- like," said Bolsonaro, add- the future," the former Bra- busiest airports in the world. colleague Viktor Orban.
cember, the two countries ing the base would be zilian army captain said. Since then, Brazil's top lead- Both attended his inaugu-
held a joint training mission "symbolic" since American On Friday, asked by jour- ers, including the gener- ration in Brazil's capital.
in Venezuela that was criti- military power can reach nalists in Brasilia, Bolsonaro als during Brazil's 1964-1985 Bolsonaro reiterated his de-
cized by U.S Secretary of any part of the globe. repeated that America is a dictatorship, have frowned cision to move Brazil's em-
State Mike Pompeo. "Depending on what might friend to the U.S. on the idea of having bassy in Israel from Tel Aviv
"My approximation with the happen in the world, who The possibility of a U.S. base American bases in the to Jerusalem, but did not
United States is economic, knows if we might have to in Brazil was not openly dis- South American country. offer a timeline.q