Washington’s reckless push for regime change in Venezuela, where the US actively supports a person who “ignores all laws,” might set a dangerous precedent, former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa told RT.

A situation, in which a man “declares himself an ‘interim’ president” and immediately gets recognition from 11 Latin American countries and the US, is “unseen,” Correa said, commenting on the latest developments in the crisis-ridden Venezuela and referring to the opposition head Juan Guaido.

Guaido, who is currently the President of the National Assembly, swore an oath and declared himself interim president on Wednesday as thousands took to the streets calling for Maduro to leave office. Minutes later, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize the man as Venezuela’s interim leader.

Elsewhere in the Americas, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru all followed suit within two hours of the US move.

The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela. https://t.co/WItWPiG9jK — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2019

The countries, which supported the development, called for a coup against Venezuela’s elected president, Nicolas Maduro, even before Guaido made his move, Correa said, adding that it was nothing but a push for a regime change. He also said that the opposition head “ignored the constriction, laws, election … procedures” in his self-manifestation as “nothing of this sort is in the constitution.”

However, those pushing for the coup were apparently not very much concerned about the legal formalities but were instead focused on their own interests, according to Correa, who said the development set a dangerous precedent for such an approach to be extended on any other country, whose “government the US does not like,” regardless of whether it is democratic or not.

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“One can talk about a new Operation Condor now,” Correa said, referring to the infamous campaign of state terror and purges of alleged Communists conducted by US-backed South American dictatorships beginning in 1975.

“This is an impressive blow,” the ex-president said, referring to the development in Venezuela. “They avoid resorting to the military [action], assassinations or kidnappings for now because they do not need it. One cannot rule out that they could still resort to such methods” in the future, Correa warned.

Venezuela has been hit by a prolonged period of severe economic crisis. Its hardships are further exacerbated by pressure from Washington that seeks to depose the current government led by Maduro.

The Venezuelan president’s opponents blame his socialist government for the economic instability. Maduro says the nation’s woes are a result of US sanctions against the oil-rich state as well as deliberate attempts to sow discord among its people from abroad.

Meanwhile, pressure on Venezuela is still mounting. On Thursday, London and Paris followed Washington’s suit and declared that they do not see Maduro as a legitimate leader.

Venezuela’s elected leader, however, also received some international support. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called Maduro and expressed his support to Venezuela’s legitimate government while condemning “external interference” of the US and its allies over “gross” violation of international law.

China, Mexico, Cuba as well as a NATO member, Turkey, are among the nations which have also rejected the attempted coup.

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