Thus, Cuba rejects the new plan of US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo for Venezuela.
The Cuban authorities condemn the U.S. plans to lift the sanctions imposed on Venezuela only if an interim government is established there and believe that the restrictive measures should be lifted without any preconditions. A statement to this effect was posted on Twitter on Tuesday by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the island state.
“Cuba rejects the new plan [US Secretary of State Michael] Pompeo for Venezuela, which once again confirms the neocolonial claims of the United States in the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine. This initiative threatens the peace and security of our hemisphere. The sanctions should be lifted without any conditions”, – the diplomat wrote.
Earlier, Pompeo said that Washington is putting forward a plan to resolve the internal political crisis in Venezuela, which provides for the establishment of an interim government in that country with representatives of the opposition and the current government, as well as the subsequent lifting of sanctions. According to him, the U.S. proposes the establishment of “a State Council that will serve as a transitional government until the” presidential and parliamentary elections, which “are expected to take place in 6-12 months. However, as explained by Pompeo, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaydo must recognize that the transitional government is “the only executive body during the transition period. The Venezuelan leadership called the initiative an attempt to interfere in its internal affairs.
The situation in Venezuela worsened after Guaydo, whose appointment as Speaker of Parliament was annulled by the Supreme Court two days earlier, declared himself Acting President on January 23, 2019. He was recognized as interim head of state by the United States, joined by the Lima Group countries (except Mexico), the Organization of American States and most EU countries. Maduro called it a coup attempt and announced that he had broken off diplomatic relations with the United States. He was supported by Russia, Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Syria and Turkey.