WASHINGTON: Venezuela’s deputy UN military attache, Col. Pedro Chirinos, said in a video on social media that he recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president, increasing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.
US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, highlighted Chirinos’ announcement in a note posted on Twitter on Wednesday but misidentified him as the military attache to the United Nations.
“Venezuela’s military attache to the United Nations, Col. Pedro Chirinos, has announced his official recognition of Juan Guaido as Interim President of Venezuela,” Bolton said in his note.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said he was not aware of any notifications from the Venezuelan UN mission on changes to its delegation.
In a video shared by Bolton on Twitter, Chirinos identified himself and called Maduro’s government “illegally constituted,” while dressed in a military uniform and standing in front of the flags of Venezuela and the United Nations.
“I recognize, and offer my support and obedience, to the transition government led by the president, Juan Guaido,” Chirinos said.
The United States and scores of other countries have openly backed Guaido, who last month invoked constitutional provisions to assume the interim presidency after declaring Maduro’s re-election last year illegitimate.
Maduro retains the support of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions, including the security services. He says Guaido is leading a US-directed coup against him.
Venezuela’s deputy UN military attache backs Guaido
Venezuela’s deputy UN military attache backs Guaido
- Chirinos has called Maduro’s government “illegally constituted.”
US Treasury chief says retaliatory EU tariffs over Greenland ‘unwise’
- He said Trump wanted control of the autonomous Danish territory because he considers it a “strategic asset” and “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”
Davos: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned European nations on Monday against retaliatory tariffs over President Donald Trump’s threatened levies to obtain control of Greenland.
“I think it would be very unwise,” Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
He said Trump wanted control of the autonomous Danish territory because he considers it a “strategic asset” and “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”
Asked about Trump’s message to Norway’s prime minister, in which he appeared to link his Greenland push to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Bessent said: “I don’t know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”
He added, however, that “I think it’s a complete canard that the president will be doing this because of the Nobel Prize.”
Trump said at the weekend that, from February 1, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States until Denmark agrees to cede Greenland.
The announcement has drawn angry charges of “blackmail” from the US allies, and Germany’s vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil said Monday that Europe was preparing countermeasures.
Asked later Monday on the chances for a deal that would not involve acquiring Greenland, Bessent said “I would just take President Trump at his word for now.”
“How did the US get the Panama Canal? We bought it from the French,” he told a small group of journalists including AFP.
“How did the US get the US Virgin Islands? We bought it from the Danes.”
Bessent reiterated in particular the island’s strategic importance as a source of rare earth minerals that are critical for a range of cutting-edge technologies.
Referring to Denmark, he said: “What if one day they were worried about antagonizing the Chinese? They’ve already allowed Chinese mining in Greenland, right?“
