The UN should admit a representative of Juan Guaido's Venezuela government in place of the envoy appointed by Nicolas Maduro, US Vice President Mike Pence told international representatives on Wednesday.

"The time has come for the United Nations to recognize interim president Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela and seat his representative in this body," Pence added.

Venezuela's parliamentary speaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January, claiming that his rival Nicolas Maduro had lost legitimacy. The US, its European allies, and dozen of other countries have endorsed the move.

On Wednesday, Pence said the US was preparing a draft resolution which would see the UN recognize Guaido as president and replace the current Venezuelan ambassador with a new one, appointed by Guaido.

The US leader called on the UN to revoke the credentials of the current Venezuela representative Samuel Moncada. He also addressed Moncada directly during his UN speech.

"With all due respect Mr. ambassador, you shouldn't be here," Pence told the envoy who attended the Wednesday session. "You should return to Venezuela and tell Nicolas Maduro that his time is up. It's time for him to go."

The US move comes just a day after the Organization of American States (OAS) voted to recognize Guaido's ambassador.

However, it was extremely unlikely that the UN Security Council would approve the US-proposed resolution. The left-leaning leader Nicolas Maduro still enjoys strong support from China and Russia, with the latter involved in key oil-related projects in Venezuela.

Following Pence's speech, Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia said that the US had "artificially provoked a crisis" in Venezuela in order to overthrow "a legitimately elected leader and replace him with their own pawn."

"If you want to make America great again, and we're all sincerely interested in seeing that, stop interfering in the affairs of other states," Nebenzia told US officials.

Earlier on Wednesday, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock told the council of the grave humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. With the country hit by prolonged economic crisis, malnutrition rates have tripled in the last five years and seven million people lack basic access to food and medical care, Lowcock said.

Over 3.4 million Venezuelans have left the country, and the number of refugees is expected to hit five million until the end of 2019, he added.

Every day, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up for the newsletter here. </s> Vice President Mike Pence lobbied the United Nations on Wednesday to remove the credentials of Nicolás Maduro’s envoy Samuel Moncada, citing the illegitimacy of Venezuela’s ruling socialist regime over the troubled South American country.

At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Pence directly addressed Venezuelan envoy Samuel Moncada soon after he had spoken.

“With all due respect, Mr. Ambassador, you shouldn’t be here,” Pence said after Moncada spoke. “You should return to Venezuela and tell Nicolas Maduro that his time is up. It’s time for him to go.”

Pence then went on to urge the body to strip Moncada of his credentials, saying it should instead allow opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized by the U.S. and most other Western democracies as the country’s rightful president, to send his own ambassador.

“Up to this point, while other international bodies have acted, the United Nations and this Security Council have refused to act,” he continued. “But now that nations across this hemisphere have spoken, the time has come for the United Nations to recognize Interim President Juan Guaidó as the legitimate President of Venezuela and seat his representative in this body.”

“This body should revoke the credentials of Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations, recognize Interim President Juan Guaidó, and seat the representative of the free Venezuelan government in this body without delay,” he continued.

The regime has long used the United Nations as a platform to rail against the U.S. and other opponents of their socialist project. Last year, Maduro used his speech at the annual General Assembly to tell the world that Venezuela is “stronger than ever” despite the desperate economic and humanitarian crisis ravaging the country’s basic ability to function.

In recent months, the U.S. has stepped up its efforts to help remove Maduro from power. Washington recognized Guaidó as president and placing fresh economic sanctions against the regime and its financial entities. The sanctions are mainly intended to stifle Maduro’s ability to access foreign revenue streams as the U.S. has handed control of various Venezuelan bank accounts to Guaidó and his economic advisers.

The efforts have so far proved unsuccessful. Maduro still retains the vital support of the military, as well as support from China and Russia in the form of troops and military equipment. Following the meeting on Wednesday, Pence told reporters that momentum was now building against the regime and that he hoped other nations join efforts to oust Maduro from office.

“We really do believe that freedom has the momentum but now it’s time for this body, this historic institution to step forward and to give voice to that momentum and we’re going to be reaching out to nations across the world to join us,” he said.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com. </s> WASHINGTON — The Organization of American States on Tuesday recognized a Venezuelan opposition envoy as his nation's representative to the regional group until new elections are held in the South American country.

Gustavo Tarre was accepted by the OAS a day after another envoy designated by opposition leader Juan Guaidó was recognized by President Donald Trump as Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S.

The OAS adopted the resolution recognizing Tarre with 18 votes in favor, nine against, six abstentions and one absence.

The U.S. and most of the 34 member states of the OAS recognize Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela. They say President Nicolas Maduro wasn't legitimately re-elected last year because leading opposition candidates weren't permitted to run.

Maduro's government called the decision a "criminal and rampant violation of international law and the OAS Charter."

The Foreign Ministry said in a press release that Venezuela will consider "null" any decision taken by Tarre, whom it described as a "loud-mouth political usurper."

Tarre told reporters he plans to take over the job after he delivers his credential letter to OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro on Wednesday morning.

"It means the usurpation of the Venezuelan seat (at the organization) has ended," he said.

The OAS is the second multilateral organization to recognize representatives designated by Guaidó.

The Inter-American Development Bank accepted Ricardo Hausmann as the Venezuelan envoy last month. It later called off its general assembly after host China refused to grant him a visa. China is one of the main allies of Maduro, along with Russia. </s> UNITED NATIONS - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says the United States will exert diplomatic and economic pressure to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela, but adds that "all options are on the table."

Pence addressed the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday and urged the United Nations to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's president in place of Nicolás Maduro and revoke the credentials of Venezuela's U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada, who was also seated at the council's horseshoe-shaped table.

Pence told him. "With all due respect Mr. ambassador, you shouldn't be here." The vice president added: "You should return to Venezuela and tell Nicolás Maduro that his time is up. It's time for him to go."

Pence said the United States would be circulating a Security Council resolution to recognize Guaidó and stand with the Venezuelan people "as they rise up ... against intimidation and violence" and for freedom.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Organization of American States is recognizing a Venezuelan opposition envoy as his nation's representative to the regional group until new elections are held in the South American country.

Gustavo Tarre was accepted by the OAS on Tuesday. It came a day after another envoy designated by opposition leader Juan Guaidó was recognized by President Donald Trump as Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S.

The OAS adopted the resolution recognizing Tarre with 18 votes in favor, nine against, six abstentions and one absence.

The U.S. and most of the 34 member states of the OAS recognize Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela. They say President Nicolas Maduro wasn't legitimately re-elected last year because opposition candidates weren't permitted to run. </s> Venezuela's foreign minister on Wednesday called for direct talks between President Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump to address the country's crisis -- a proposal swiftly rejected by the White House, which recognizes the opposition.

The call from Venezuela's top diplomat Jorge Arreaza came in an address to the United Nations Human Rights Council that was boycotted by multiple diplomats including from Latin America and Europe.

"We are proposing the path of dialogue, even with the United States... Why shouldn't they meet, President Trump and President Maduro?" Arreaza said.

The United States does not sit on the rights council following Trump's decision to quit the body last year.

But the American envoy to the U.N.'s Conference on Disarmament (CoD) Robert Wood walked out of the chamber as another Venezuelan diplomat, Felix Plasencia, took the podium.

Wood, asked about the prospects of a Trump-Maduro summit, told reporters: "President Trump is prepared to meet with the rightful president of Venezuela and that is Juan Guaido."

Vice President Mike Pence said the United States only recognizes Guaido -- whom he met earlier this week in Colombia in a show of support.

"The only thing to discuss with Maduro at this point is the time and date for his departure," Pence tweeted.

"For democracy to return and for Venezuela to rebuild -- Maduro must go," he wrote.

Guaido declared himself acting president on Jan. 23 until new elections were held, and was recognized by Australia, Canada, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica and the U.S. The European Parliament took a step in the same direction.

Turkey, Russia, Iran, Cuba, China, and Bolivia reiterate support for Maduro, who vowed to cut all diplomatic and political ties with the U.S.

Arreaza denounced what he described as a campaign of "aggression" being perpetrated by the United States against Venezuela, including an international assault on the government's foreign assets.

He said Washington's actions were depriving ordinary Venezuelans of food and medicine, and called on the rights council to "raise its voice" against the American "blockade."

The US has ramped up the pressure on the Maduro regime with sanctions against top officials, and the promise to exempt those who recognize Guaido as their true leader.

An estimated 2.7 million people have fled Venezuela since a devastating political and economic crisis engulfed the country in 2015, according to the U.N. </s> Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday sought to ratchet up international pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, chastising the United Nations Security Council for being slow to act against that government as a humanitarian crisis unfolds on Maduro’s watch.

Pence said that America is preparing a new resolution recognizing the legitimacy of Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela, and he urged the U.N. Security Council to pass it.





“Up to this point, while other international bodies have acted, the United Nations and this security council have refused to act,” Pence said, seated in the Security Council chamber. “But now that nations across this hemisphere have spoken, the time has come for the United Nations to recognize interim president Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela and seat his representative in this body.”

Pence also urged the U.N. to revoke the credential of Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations.

“With all due respect, Mr. Ambassador, you shouldn’t be here,” Pence said, as Venezuela’s representative seated at the Security Council table could be seen raising his eyebrows and vigorously shaking his head. “You should return to Venezuela. Tell Nicolás Maduro his time is up. It’s time for him to go.”

Those remarks come as U.S. officials worry about what they see as growing Chinese and Russian involvement in Venezuela. China and Russia—permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—along with Cuba continue to support Maduro, who has maintained power despite mounting sanctions and international condemnation, amid an economic collapse and humanitarian crisis in his country. China and Russia have stymied previous American efforts to rebuke Maduro at the U.N. and could do so again.

“Soon at President Trump’s direction the United States will announce additional action to hold Cuba accountable for its malign influence in Venezuela,” Pence said, as he also blasted Russian and Chinese efforts to “obstruct” at the Security Council.





Maduro’s government has been accused of using the prospects of food and even medical care as political instruments, turning basic necessities into bargaining chips for votes. More than three million Venezuelans have fled the country in the past several years.





The White House, meanwhile, recognized Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela in January, and more than 50 other countries have followed suit. The United States has also applied sanctions on more than 150 officials and organizations affiliated with Maduro, as well as sanctioning the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and vessels owned or operated by that company. On Wednesday, Pence announced an additional $60 million in humanitarian aid.

The Trump administration has not ruled out military action in the region, even as Pence on Wednesday reiterated a commitment to diplomatic and economic pressure first.

“Nations across the world have spoken,” he said. “It’s time for the United Nations to speak.”

Pence’s comments come as some activists, including the organization Human Rights Watch, call for the U.N. Security Council to take emergency measures to combat the crisis in Venezuela. The Organization of American States on Tuesday acknowledged Guaidó’s appointed ambassador to that body.

But efforts to ramp up U.N. involvement in Venezuela may meet continued resistance on the Security Council. In February, Russia and China opposed a U.S. resolution at the U.N. calling for unimpeded access to humanitarian aid and new elections in Venezuela. Pence urged the Security Council to rally against Maduro this time around as he outlined a new resolution recognizing Guaidó’s legitimacy.

“Today we urge every member of the Security Council, all United Nations member states, to support this resolution, to stand with the Venezuelan people as they rise up to restore … democracy and libertad to their nation,” he said.

Pence has been an especially visible champion of the administration’s Venezuela policy, frequently signaling that combating the crisis there remains a priority for the United States even as Maduro holds on. He traveled to Colombia to meet with Guaidó in February, where he reiterated the administration’s commitment to a diplomatic solution despite aggressive tweets from Trump.

“I made it clear to President Guaidó that we’re going to continue to call on allies to join with us,” Pence said. “We’re going to continue to isolate Maduro economically and diplomatically until democracy is restored.”

More recently, he has met with Guaidó’s wife. He has also stayed connected with members of the Venezuelan exile community in the United States, attending a roundtable in Miami and last week addressing members of the Venezuelan community in Houston. </s> In what was viewed as a heavy diplomatic blow to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro regime, the Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday formally recognized the ambassador appointed by interim President Juan Guaidó as the legitimate representative of that nation.

The resolution, protested by the Maduro-appointed delegation and by representatives of some allied nations, was approved by the Permanent Council of the OAS with 18 votes in favor, nine against and six abstentions. Belize was not present for the vote.

The move means that Gustavo Tarre, the ambassador appointed by Venezuela’s National Assembly, of which Guaidó serves as president, will now serve as head of Venezuela’s diplomatic delegation to the OAS and will have full power to appoint the members of its mission.

The credentials issued to Maduro’s delegation will be revoked, barring them from entry into the OAS headquarters in Washington, and their diplomatic visas could eventually be canceled by the U.S. government, OAS ambassadors later told journalists.

“It is a historic day for the OAS because as of today Venezuela will have a representative who truly represents the Venezuelan people,” said Carlos Trujillo, U.S. ambassador to the organization.

“We are recognizing Ambassador Tarre as permanent representative, and he has the right, like any ambassador, to submit the people who are accredited to be part of his mission,” he added.

The vote was immediately rejected by Maduro’s Foreign Ministry in Caracas, which issued a statement saying that Venezuela had been the victim of a new plot orchestrated from Washington.

“This is one of the most unfortunate decisions taken in this organization’s long history of legal and political outrages, a vulgar manipulation of blackmail and pressure against member states to satisfy the wishes of Washington’s neo-Monroeist policy,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Headed by Maduro’s mission, the nine countries that voted against the resolution argued that the highly important issue being discussed should not be settled by a simple majority in the Permanent Council, but by a qualified majority (24 votes) in a General Assembly, the highest gathering of the OAS.

The motion was modified at the last minute by Jamaica to establish in writing that Tarre is accepted as “designated permanent representative of the National Assembly, pending the holding of new elections and the appointment of a democratically elected government.”

The original version declared Tarre as a representative of the Venezuelan state. The modified language led to speculation that the situation might lead to two different Venezuelan diplomatic missions at the OAS, with one of them tied to Maduro.

The ambassadors, however, rejected this possibility, saying that adding the National Assembly reference to a resolution does not make it a partial recognition because the legislative body is the only legitimately elected Venezuelan institution.

The OAS had already had declared that it did not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s second presidential term, claiming that his re-election last May was fraudulent. The organization also already recognizes Guaidó as the legitimate Venezuelan head of state, with a majority of the OAS members forming part of the more than 50 nations doing the same as individual nations.

Following the vote, Tarre told reporters that it was great news for the Venezuelan people, who he said are suffering under the Maduro regime.

“This means that the usurpation of the Venezuelan chair in the OAS ceased,” Tarre said. “Consequently, and in line with President Guaidó’s roadmap, this is another step to the end of the usurpation in Caracas, the establishment of a transition government and of free elections.” </s> UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The latest on Venezuela’s political and humanitarian crisis (all times local): 6:50 p.m. Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is lambasting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s remarks at the U.N. Security Council as…

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The latest on Venezuela’s political and humanitarian crisis (all times local):

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is lambasting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s remarks at the U.N. Security Council as both “ridiculous” and “racist.”

In a televised address early Wednesday evening, Maduro said Pence’s comments show U.S. leaders “think they are superior to Venezuelans.”

He added that on Pence’s face he could see “the hate, the racism” harbored toward Venezuela.

Pence urged the United Nations to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president and revoke the credentials of Samuel Moncada, who is the U.N. ambassador for Maduro’s government.

Pence told Moncada at a Security Council meeting: “With all due respect Mr. Ambassador, you shouldn’t be here.”

Maduro frequently engages in a war of words with his U.S. counterparts as tensions between both nations mount amid Venezuela’s power struggle.

The International Committee of the Red Cross will triple its budget in Venezuela this year as it helps authorities address mounting humanitarian concerns in the politically turbulent nation.

Red Cross President Peter Maurer wrapped up a five-day visit to Venezuela on Wednesday — the first by the head of the aid group in decades.

The trip took him to several public hospitals, slums and migrant centers that have seen the worst of a social crisis expected to worsen as U.S. financial sanctions take effect. He also met with President Nicolas Maduro as well as two vice presidents of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Maurer said his Geneva-based organization is tripling its budget this year in Venezuela to around $24 million and almost doubling its staff to around 180 people. He said it will focus its efforts on rehabilitating hospitals, increasing water supplies, training the armed forces in international humanitarian law and visiting detainees among other activities. He said the work would be concentrated in Caracas, southern Bolivar state and the restive border region with Colombia.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is touring the capital region to rally supporters, saying it not the time to rest in the fight to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaidó made several stops Wednesday across the capital of Caracas. He took a microphone each time for short speeches, pointing to constant blackouts and water shortages blamed on Maduro’s failed socialist government.

Guaidó said Venezuelans are living a “tragedy” that must end with the transition of power through new elections.

The head of the National Assembly also urged the armed forces to reject Maduro.

He’s being met by dozens of cheering supporters in some neighborhoods with hundreds greeting him at others.

Guaidó is backed by the United States among 50 nations that demand Maduro step down. Maduro calls Guaidó a “puppet” of a Washington-led coup.

Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador says the country is threatened with war by the Trump administration, “and the ground is being laid for an invasion.”

Samuel Moncada told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday: “We must stop this war of Donald Trump.”

He said the actions causing humanitarian suffering in Venezuela “are the direct fruit of a plan of economic destruction put together by the government of the United States and the United Kingdom.”

Moncada said the aim is to strangle the country’s economy to provoke “a social implosion that they can then use as a pretext for foreign military intervention.”

He called it “a mindboggling inhumane experiment in unconventional warfare” and said it is aimed at importing a “puppet government” led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó

But Moncada said the U.S. has miscalculated because while the Venezuelan people and government are suffering, the “national spirit” has increased under pressure and the armed forces have not broken.

Russia’s U.N. ambassador says the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Venezuela called by the United States is just “another episode of a tragedy with several acts in the attempt to change regime in Venezuela.”

Vassily Nebenzia said the United States “has artificially provoked a crisis in this country in order to overthrow a legitimately elected leader and replace him with their own pawn.”

Russia is a strong supporter of President Nicolás Maduro’s government, while the United States and 54 other countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president.

At Wednesday’s session, Nebenzia called on “the United States to recognize that the Venezuelan people and other people have the right to determine their future.”

In his words, “If you want to make America great again, and we’re all sincerely interested in seeing that, stop interfering in the affairs of other states.”

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says the United States will exert diplomatic and economic pressure to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela, but adds that “all options are on the table.”

Pence addressed the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday and urged the United Nations to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president in place of Nicolás Maduro and revoke the credentials of Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada, who was also seated at the council’s horseshoe-shaped table.

Pence told him. “With all due respect Mr. ambassador, you shouldn’t be here.” The vice president added: “You should return to Venezuela and tell Nicolás Maduro that his time is up. It’s time for him to go.”

Pence said the United States would be circulating a Security Council resolution to recognize Guaidó and stand with the Venezuelan people “as they rise up … against intimidation and violence” and for freedom.

OPEC says Venezuela pumped 960,000 barrel of oil a day in March, a one-third drop from the previous month in a country enduring U.S. oil sanctions and nationwide blackouts.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced the figures in a monthly report that was released Wednesday.

Venezuela’s oil output has been in decline and it pumped about three times as much oil two decades ago. But the industry’s deterioration has accelerated since the United States imposed sanctions in January and power outages struck across the country in early March.

Oil has long been the chief source of income in a country that claims the world’s largest proven petroleum reserves.

The U.S. took action against the Venezuelan oil industry to support opposition leader Juan Guaido’s campaign to topple President Nicolás Maduro.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock says Venezuela’s humanitarian problem has worsened and “the scale of need is significant and growing” — with 7 million people representing 25 percent of the population needing humanitarian aid.

Lowcock told a Security Council meeting called by the United States on Wednesday that the U.N. is working to expand humanitarian aid, but that much more is needed.

He said there’s “a need to separate political and humanitarian objectives” and urged the council’s support “to safeguard the neutral and impartial nature of humanitarian action.”

Lowcock also urged the council to press for sustained and regular access to people in need, and to fund the expansion of humanitarian programs.

He said Venezuela’s “severe and continuing economic contraction” means the availability and affordability of food has fallen and malnutrition has increased, especially in areas with the highest poverty rates.

Human Rights Watch and public health researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are urging the United Nations to declare the situation in Venezuela “a complex humanitarian emergency that poses a serious risk to the region.”

They appealed to the Security Council ahead of its meeting Wednesday on Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis to ask Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make a declaration because their research shows severe medicine and food shortages in Venezuela, and disease spreading across its borders.

Dr. Kathleen Page of Johns Hopkins says Guterres “should ring the alarm bell and demonstrate leadership by ensuring that the U.N.’s vast resources can be mobilized for the Venezuelan people in a way that is neutral, independent, and impartial.”

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
After the Organization of American States accepts an envoy from the government of President of the Venezuelan National Assembly Juan Guaidó as ambassador, United States Vice President Mike Pence asks for the United Nations to expel and replace the Nicolás Maduro-appointed Venezuelan envoy in its own chamber.