Venezuela crisis: US pulls out staff and tells citizens to 'strongly consider' leaving
Source: The Guardian
Venezuela crisis: US pulls out staff and tells citizens to 'strongly consider' leaving
Defence minister Vladimir Padrino accuses opposition, US and regional allies of launching attempted coup against Maduro
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent and Julian Borger in Washington
Fri 25 Jan 2019 00.05 GMT
The US state department has urged its citizens to strongly consider leaving Venezuela and ordered out non-emergency government staff as the head of the countrys armed forces warned of a civil war sparked by a US-backed criminal plan to unseat Nicolás Maduro.
In a live address to the nation on Thursday, the defence minister, Vladimir Padrino, accused the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó, the United States and regional allies such as Brazil of launching an attempted coup against Maduro that risked bringing chaos and anarchy to the country.
We are here to avoid, at all costs
a conflict between Venezuelans. It is not civil war, a war between brothers that will solve the problems of Venezuela. It is dialogue, said Padrino.
In a significant blow to Venezuelas newly energized opposition, the defence minister declared unwavering support for our commander-in-chief, the citizen Nicolás Maduro.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/venezuela-maduro-guaido-defense-minister-civil-war