US may attempt to sabotage Venezuela’s parliamentary vote in 2020, Maduro says

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro warned that Washington is looking to derail the nation’s parliamentary election because “they can’t win” otherwise. The parliament is currently run by the US-backed opposition.

The US may try to sabotage the nation’s general election, scheduled for 2020, Maduro told Russia’s Rossiya 24 TV in an interview, broadcasted on Monday.

I can already warn the international community that the current US government with its extremist policy and unconventional war against Venezuela is mulling disrupting the parliamentary election.

Washington wants to meddle in the upcoming vote because “they know that they can’t win” otherwise, Maduro said.

The parliament is currently controlled by a coalition of opposition parties whose leader, Juan Guaido, declared himself ‘interim president’ of the nation in January, openly challenging Maduro’s rule. Guaido has since held numerous mass anti-government protests in the nation’s capital, Caracas and urged the army and police to join his supporters in toppling the government. The military and law enforcement, however, remain loyal to Maduro.

Guaido is openly backed by the US and its allies in Europe, as well as the majority of South American countries, including Venezuela’s neighbors, Brazil and Colombia. States such as China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey continue to recognize Maduro as the legitimate president.

Washington has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Venezuelan officials and companies in recent months. Maduro dismissed this as an act of economic warfare and accused the US of plotting to assassinate him. He also vowed not to bow down to any overseas pressure.

Maduro was reelected for a second term in May 2018. Western countries and many South American states disputed the results, accusing Maduro of vote-rigging. The election was boycotted by the main opposition parties.

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