Mixed reactions after U.S. recognizes Venezuela opposition leader

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Venezuela's military has rejected opposition leader Juan Guaido's claims to be the country's "acting president," Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Wednesday, after the U.S. and regional powers recognized Guaido as the "interim president."

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington had recognized Guaido as the nation's "interim president."

"Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela," Trump said, as per a statement issued by the White House.

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks before his supporters during an open meeting at the Central University of Caracas (UCV) in Caracas, January 21, 2019. /VCG Photo

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro responded by announcing a break in "diplomatic and political relations" with the U.S., and ordering American diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours.

He also called on the military to stay united, saying the U.S. is trying to orchestrate a coup with help from its allies in the region.

Writing on Twitter, the defense minister said: "The nation's soldiers don't accept a president imposed by obscure interests, nor one self-proclaimed outside of the law." The armed forces "will defend our constitution and is the guarantor of national sovereignty," Padrino added.

Mixed reactions for Maduro's government

In May 2018, Maduro was re-elected as the president, and sworn in as president on January 10 for another six-year term.

While the United State, Canada and several regional powers have been calling on Maduro to transfer power to the country's legislature, instead of starting a new term, Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia still back Maduro as Venezuelan president.

South American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru have backed Guaido. The U.S. and Canada also recognized the 35-year-old leader of Venezuela's opposition-dominated National Assembly.

The EU also called for "free and credible elections." "The people of Venezuela have massively called for democracy and the possibility to freely determine their own destiny," the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks before the Constituent Assembly near a portrait of late President Hugo Chavez to announce measures to alleviate the serious economic crisis, at the Federal Legislative Palace in Caracas, January 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Mexico, the world's largest Spanish-speaking country, under leftist President Lopez Obrador who took office in December, has taken a "non-intervention" stance toward Venezuela.

"Mexico does not form part [of] this attempt to take sides and promote a type of internal intervention," the president's spokesman Jesus Ramirez said. "We maintain our position of neutrality and non-intervention toward the conflict in Venezuela," he added.

Cuba also voiced support for Maduro on Twitter.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel expressed "our support and solidarity to President Nicolas Maduro after the imperialist attempts to discredit and destabilize the Bolivarian Revolution."

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described Guaido's move, that was backed by the United States and many Latin American countries, as a "coup attempt."

(Top image: Partial view of the Cotiza Bolivarian National Guard headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, January 21, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)