Maduro denounces EU's election ultimatum

World
Europe

00:35

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected an ultimatum to call a national election within eight days, describing European countries as insolent for making it.

In an interview with Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk aired on Sunday and dubbed into Turkish from Spanish, Maduro also said opposition leader Juan Guaido had violated the constitution by declaring himself as the country's leader.

Maduro said he was open to dialogue, and that a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, while improbable, was not impossible.

Venezuela has been in crisis for days amid widespread protests that erupted on Wednesday after the leader of the legislature, Juan Guaido, declared himself "interim president".

The U.S. and some Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil and Chile support Guaido, while countries like Russia and Turkey have insisted that President Nicolas Maduro is the legitimate state leader of Venezuela.

China said it is opposed to any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela and called for the peaceful solution of the crisis.

On Saturday, Britain, Germany, France, and Spain said they would recognize Guaido as Venezuela's leader if Maduro fails to call fresh elections in eight days, an ultimatum the Venezuelan foreign minister called "childlike."

Also on Saturday, Venezuela's top military envoy to the U.S., Colonel Jose Luis Silva, defected from the Maduro government.

(Top image: Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president, holds the country's constitution while speaking during a televised press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, January 25, 2019. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters