Kremlin tells Venezuelan opposition to 'accept defeat', warns against US interference

The Kremlin issued a message to the Venezuelan opposition on Tuesday saying that it must accept that its candidate Edmundo González lost the elections and that Nicolás Maduro has won a third term, after the results were certified by the country's National Electoral Council .

No less than nine Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, have questioned the result or at least shown some reluctance to recognize it immediately. But Moscow has answered: “We see that the opposition does not want to accept its defeat, but we believe that it must,” he added. according to the words of Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov beyond he warned other world powers not to interfere in Venezuela's internal politics. The statement came 24 hours after Maduro delivered a televised speech in which he warned an outside sponsor. “color revolution” is underway

“It is very important that the attempts to influence the situation in Venezuela are not powered by third countries and that Venezuela is free from outside influences,” Peskov said.

Maduro's supporters are now calling for counter-protests at a time when some districts of Caracas have seen violence as police try to quell protesting crowds who have tried to approach the presidential palace.

China has also congratulated Maduro for another term, and celebrated that he is further consolidating the positive relations between Beijing and Caracas, which in the past even carried out joint military exercises.

According to the Chinese state global times“Noting that China and Venezuela are good friends and partners, Lin said that China attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations and is willing to work with Venezuela to continuously enrich the China-Venezuela comprehensive strategic partnership for all time and bring more benefits to both peoples”.

The report also highlighted that all this is “disappointing news” for Washington while, at the same time, Russia and China are fully welcoming the official results.

Russian state media have also frequently accused the United States of seeking to foment the coup and regime change in Caracas. Under the Trump administration, this was definitely an accurate version of events, given that former officials such as John Bolton have openly stated that this was Washington's policy. Earlier riots and widespread unrest against Maduro affected Caracas in 2019.

In recent years, Moscow has also denounced US-led regime change efforts in places like Syria, where Russia has a long-standing military presence. Recently, Russia has sent warships to Cuba and to patrol the Caribbean region, which US officials have seen as a threat.