Georgia joins International Solidarity and Aid for Venezuela
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, February 25
Georgia joins the international solidarity for the Interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaidó and National Assembly and also in delivering Humanitarian Aid to the country to help people in need.
The statement was made by the Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze on twitter.
“We support the courage of the people of Venezuela in the fight for democracy and respect for human rights,” the PM’s tweet reads.
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani made a similar comment:
“Georgia stands by the international community to support the efforts of Interim President Juan Guaidó and National Assembly, Venezuelans for supplying Humanitarian Aid to Venezuela and assisting those in need. People of Venezuela deserve to live in #Venezuelalibre".
The temporary government of Venezuela is ready to abolish the decision about the recognition of Georgia’s two Russian-occupied regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries.
The statement was made by Gustavo Tarre, a diplomat named by Venezuela's National Assembly on 22 January 2019 as a Special Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).
Last month on Georgian journalist's question if Venezuela would reverse recognition of Georgia’s occupied regions, Tarre responded:
“Of course we will. We do not plan to continue the policy of Maduro Administration. We are not afraid of Russia,” he said.
Venezuela recognized Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states in 2009, following the lead of Russia and Nicaragua which did the same.
The two regions of Georgia were occupied by the Russian Federation in a wake of the August war 2008, after which Russia deployed its troops in both regions and turned them into his military bases.
In total five countries recognize “independence” of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia: Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Syria.
The rest of the international community supports Georgia’s sovereignty and recognizes these two regions as integral parts of Georgia.
As for the recent developments in Venezuela, BBC reports that deadly clashes broke out in Venezuelan border towns on Saturday, as President Nicolás Maduro blocked humanitarian aid from crossing from Colombia and Brazil.
Troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who attempted to collect and transport the supplies.
A number of people were also shot by live ammunition, human rights groups say. At least two people were killed.
The opposition wants the aid to go to people hit by the economic crisis, but Mr. Maduro sees it as a security threat.
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has declared himself interim president and helped organize the aid, has condemned the action by security forces.
