As Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó continues to hold rallies across the nation after declaring himself ‘acting president,’ international pressure is mounting on Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in for a second term after an election riddled with fraud. The New York Times reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero joins Hari Sreenivasan from Caracas for more.
Read the Full Transcript
-
HARI SREENIVASAN:
More nations join the United States today to demand new elections in Venezuela. At a U.N. Security Council meeting this morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged support Juan Guaidó who declared himself president on Wednesday. Pompeo called President Nicolás Maduro’s government a “illegitimate mafia state.”
-
MIKE POMPEO:
Now it’s time for every other nation to pick a side. No more delays no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem.
-
HARI SREENIVASAN:
France, Britain, Spain and Germany said they will recognize Guaidó unless Venezuela calls new presidential elections within eight days. New York Times reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero is covering the developments in Caracas. She joins us now via Skype it. Ana, we have a situation now where you have multiple parties, multiple countries from the outside recognizing Guaidó as the president and then at the same time, you’ve got the military that has expressed, at least publicly, their support for Nicolás Maduro.
-
ANA VANESSA HERRERO:
We are witnessing what Venezuelans know very well. Two Venezuelas, two different realities in the same country. We now witness two presidents but before we had two Supreme Courts, one in exile and one in the country, and two attorney generals, one in exile and one in the country. And the thing that caught our attention is that even though the defense minister says that there is a coup…
