Protest in London as Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaidó meets UK government

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On 21 January, Venezuela’s self-declared ‘interim president’ Juan Guaidó arrived in London to meet with UK government officials and members of the Venezuelan diaspora. This is the first time Guaidó has visited the UK since launching a series of coup attempts in January 2019.

London

Guaidó’s visit was kept under wraps until Monday 20 January, when a video emerged of him discussing his travel plans alongside US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Guaidó defied a travel ban and travelled to Colombia on 19 January, where he met with Colombian president Iván Duque. On a previous trip to Colombia, Guaidó was assisted over the border by Colombian narco-paramilitaries Los Rastrojos. Guaidó’s presence in Colombia was condemned by former Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro. Petro shared pictures of Guaidó with Los Rastrojos, adding:

The Rastrojos and others like them are true terrorist groups. They kill more North Americans each day than Al Qaeda.

However, they are allies of those who claim to fight terrorism.

Propaganda tour

Guaidó met with UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab; Boris Johnson was reportedly due to “drop in on the discussion”.

Guaidó later met with members of the Venezuelan diaspora in a London restaurant. On Wednesday, Guaidó will travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos to meet world political leaders.

Read on...

It is understood that Guaidó’s world tour is an attempt to counter a loss of political momentum over recent months, and request more devastating economic sanctions against Venezuela. According to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), US economic sanctions killed 40,000 Venezuelans between 2017 and 2018.

British support for Guaidó

Over the past 12 months, the UK government has consistently supported Guaidó’s attempts to topple the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

In late January 2019, the UK foreign office urged the Bank of England to grant Guaidó access to £1.2bn of Venezuelan gold reserves.

The department for international development, meanwhile, has pledged some £40m of ‘humanitarian assistance’ to Venezuela. It has not, however, revealed where this assistance is going.

The foreign office has also consistently pledged its support for Guaidó. As Bloomberg added, the UK “wanted to reaffirm its support for Guaido and would prefer new elections were called in Venezuela”.

A last-minute protest was organised in London against Guaidó’s visit. Journalist Mohamed Elmaazi, who attended the demonstration, said:

The protest was organised at the last minute, but there were around two dozen people there from all sections of the political demographic. It was organised by Hands off Venezuela, which was founded in 2002 following the first US-backed coup attempt against former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

At the time of writing, the British press has largely ignored his visit.

Featured image via Mohamed Elmaazi

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  • Show Comments
    1. Guaido is a traitor to Venezuela, a bought off puppet of the USA/israel calling for more deadly SANCTIONS against his own people to rape the oil resources of his country for the US/israel COUP makers and their puppets including the UK and even my own country of |Canada too weak to stand up to the TERRORIST acts of the USA/israel. The only glimmer of hope for the people of Venezuela and Maduro is to stay very close to Russia, China, Cuba, Mexico and the 150 + countries around the world that condemn the COUP, we need to share this so the world knows the truth about this criminal act,

      1. I couldn’t agree more with that.

        Sadly though, the pro-Guido MSM/Governments are doing their level best to keep people misinformed about Venezuela, and as they hold much of the world in their mesmeric grasp, I fear Venezuelans will succumb to North-American led illegal pressure.

        I hope that the other 150 + countries are prepared to back their support with sanction-busting gifts, and military aid if necessary, but I fear that in reality, the USA scares the pants off every nation on Earth right now, and the likes of Russia and China, even combined with those other nations, isn’t enough to stop the USA from getting what it wants, not militarily anyway.

        I think what needs to happen is for Venezuela to firmly reject Guido The Traitor, but also for those 150+ nations to actively counter US-led sanctions, even if that means providing military support to get real aid through the USA’s illegal sanctions and potential blockades.

        I think Russia, China, and other nations are doing the right thing in undermining the Petro-dollar, securing gold, and trading in other currencies other than the Petro-dollar, as this is the real reason for the USA’s interest in Venezuela. The USA’s financial domination of the planet must end, particularly as the USA has proven itself to be a wholly untrustworthy partner.

        The biggest problem with all of this is that it is because nations like Venezuela have refused to trade with the USA on the USA’s terms, and sought to be independent of Washington, that they have been sanctioned, invaded, and are being targeted for invasion (economic if that works, militarily if that fails).

        So really what we are seeing is a growing rebellion against Washington dictates, with the main thrust of the game being to devalue the Petro-dollar so that the USA bankrupts itself in its attempts to militarily and economically enforce its will on the rest of the World. If it was just about trading fairly with other nations, the USA wouldn’t need to bully and threaten other nations, as their goods and services would be judged in a fairer light and on their own merit.

        Undermining the Petro-dollar is a bold, but very dangerous plan, as it inevitably does little to stop the American runaway juggernaut from careening all over the world in the short term, but long term, if the pace against the Petro-dollar can be maintained, America will be forced to back down or be ruined.

        The worry of course is that if that occurs, America might use nuclear warfare rather than negotiate (even bankrupt, America could launch nukes), and then we are all most certainly screwed. It really depends on whether the ruling American elites think that a world without ‘Super-Powered’ America, is a world worthy of destruction or not.

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