MEXICO, April 30. /TASS/: The move by a group within the Venezuelan military in support of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido shows a split within the country’s armed forces, representative of the Venezuelan National Assembly (parliament) to Mexico Reynaldo Diaz said in an interview with the Noticias MVS radio station.
"What is taking place in Venezuela is a split in the armed forces, it is not a coup d’·tat," Diaz stated. Venezuelan parliament is currently under the control of the opposition. Earlier, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez stated that the country’s armed forces remain loyal to incumbent president Nicolas Maduro.
Earlier on Tuesday, Guaido published a video on Twitter, in which he urged the Venezuelan military to take to the streets in order to "end the usurpation" in the country. A group of military officers and head of the Popular Will party Leopoldo Lopez also appear in the video. There have been reports of shooting and release of tear gas near the road leading up to the Francisco de Miranda Airbase in Caracas, where Guaido recorded the video.
Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and speaker of the National Assembly, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital, Caracas, on January 23. On the same day, the United States recognized him as an interim president, and the countries of the Lima Group (excluding Mexico) and the Organization of American States followed suit. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted the move as an attempted coup and announced cutting diplomatic ties with the United States.
Most European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.
