Pro-Guaido bloc celebrates, encourages Venezuela coup attempt

One by one, leaders and officials from Latin American states are taking to social media to applaud opposition leader Juan Guaido’s attempted military coup in Venezuela, some even encouraging an army mutiny.

The leaders heaped praise on the Tuesday coup plotters on Twitter, and denounced President Nicolas Maduro as a dictator.

“Brazil sympathizes with the suffering Venezuelan people enslaved by a dictator,” said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, adding “we support the freedom of this sister nation to finally live a true democracy.”

Though Brazilian officials supported the uprising, Bolsonaro’s security adviser admitted that Guaido didn’t appear to have much backing from the armed forces.

Colombian President Ivan Duque went a step further with an open call for mutiny in the Venezuelan military, asking the armed forces and citizenry to “reject Maduro’s dictatorship.”

Sebastian Piñera, president of Chile, tweeted that “Maduro’s dictatorship must end,” to “restore liberties, democracy, human rights and progress in Venezuela.”

The foreign ministries of Peru and Argentina, in similar fashion, also backed the coup attempt.

Guaido, who enjoys the support of the majority of Latin American countries, the United States and the West in general, launched the uprising on Tuesday, asking the military to “start the end of usurpation.” It appears only a small segment of the military joined in the effort, however, while President Maduro said the military remains loyal to the government and has “nerves of steel.”

Other world powers, including Russia, China, Cuba, Egypt and Turkey, continue to recognize the Maduro government. Some of them threw support behind the president in light of the coup plot. The Russian foreign ministry asked the “radical opposition” to “stand down” and to “refrain from violence,” warning the opposition to avoid “destructive interference from abroad.”

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