Venezuelan opposition leader to meet US vice president

By Lokman Ilhan

CUCUTA, Colombia

Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido on Sunday said he will meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Lima Group meeting in Bogota, Colombia.

During his meeting with Pence on Monday, diplomatic initiatives and cooperation related to his country will be on the agenda, Guaido said at a joint news conference with the Colombian President Ivan Duque and Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro in Cucuta, a Colombian city at the Venezuelan border.

Lima Group, consisting of 14 Latin American nations focused on finding a resolution to Venezuela's long-standing crisis, will hold a summit on Monday in Colombia's capital Bogota.

Noting that the military did not owe loyalty to Maduro, Guaido called on opposition to protest against Maduro.

Meanwhile, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said a total of 285 people were injured during the initiatives to bring "humanitarian aid" across border into Venezuela, adding that 30 of them were citizens of Colombia.

The number of Venezuelan soldiers taking refuge in Colombia rose to 61, Trujillo added.

After Colombia assisted self-proclaimed interim President Guaido to bring humanitarian aid into the country, Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday he could no longer tolerate "Colombian territory being used for attacks against Venezuela".

He added: "For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia’s fascist government. Colombian diplomatic staff had 24 hours to leave the country.”

The Colombian foreign minister responded on Twitter, saying his country do not recognize Maduro’s decision to cut political and diplomatic ties with his country, and it recognizes Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

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 Venezuelan President Maduro, who vowed to cut all diplomatic and political ties with the U.S. following the diplomatic spat.

U.S. President Donald Trump pointed to military intervention as a possibility of a number of choices he could use to help solve the crisis.