US to be defeated once, again: Venezuela

GENEVA

Venezuela’s foreign minister on Wednesday criticized the U.S.’s rejection for his call to have talks between the presidents of the two countries.

"That’s what they always do,” Jorge Arreaza told Anadolu Agency. ”They don’t like dialogue. They would like war. But they will be defeated once again."

Arreaza said he is glad for Turkey’s support of Venezuela from the beginning of the crisis and Turkey is an important country and has become Venezuela’s brothers and sisters.

"President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has been there, standing in solidarity with Venezuela, but with the principles of the United Nations and stopping any kind of aggression to our country," he said.

Washington dismissed Arreaza’s suggestion that President Nicolas Maduro have a sit-down with U.S. President Donald Trump.

"Why shouldn't they meet so that they can try to find common ground and work out differences?" Arreaza asked rhetorically to the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Wednesday.

Robert Wood, the U.S. permanent representative to the Disarmament Conference, rejected the calls for dialogue. "President Trump is preparing to meet with the rightful president of Venezuela, that is [Juan] Guaido,” he said.

Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10, when Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition.

Tensions escalated when Guaido, who heads Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself acting president Jan. 23, a move which was supported by the U.S. and many European and Latin American countries.

Turkey, Russia, Iran, Cuba, China, and Bolivia put their weight behind Maduro, who has vowed to cut all diplomatic and political ties with the U.S.

Trump pointed to military intervention as a possibility of a number of choices he could use to help solve the crisis.