BRITAIN should not support the United States in its push for a regime change in Venezuela, Labour and leading campaign groups insisted today.

They spoke out after Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday that Britain does not regard President Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s “legitimate leader” and believes opposition head Juan Guaido is “the right person to take the country forward.”

Mr Hunt said Britain supported efforts by the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to enable Mr Guaido to take power and took a swipe at Labour, sneering that anyone who regards Venezuela as an example to follow should “think again.”

A Labour spokesperson said the party opposed outside interference in Venezuela and called for a dialogue and a “negotiated settlement” between Mr Maduro’s government and the opposition.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German told the Star that the situation in Venezuela is “very serious” as US President Donald Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton are “trying to engineer regime change.”

“They have no right to declare support for an alternative president or to interfere in the democratic process of any other country,” she said.

“There is a long history of US involvement in coups and wars in Latin America and Trump is following this path with potentially disastrous consequences.

“There are plenty of people in the US who think Trump is not a legitimate leader. There are plenty in Britain who think this government too incompetent to rule. But in both cases this is a matter for the peoples of those countries, not for anyone else.”

A Venezuela Solidarity Campaign spokesperson said: “Rather than follow Trump’s regime change agenda, which is illegal under international law, the British government should constructively engage with the existing Venezuelan government.

“The actions of the US, UK and others are exacerbating Venezuela’s divisions and difficulties. Instead, what is needed is dialogue, as proposed by Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia and others.”

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said the British government “continually kowtows” to the Trump administration on Latin America.

“After the disastrous interventions in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere, you would hope they would learn the lessons, but it seems not. We must say no to regime change and intervention in Venezuela,” Mr Livingstone stressed.

Labour MP Chris Williamson tweeted that Mr Hunt’s “servile pandering to Trump’s bellicosity shames Britain.”

The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign has called an emergency Stop Trump’s Interventions In Latin America rally for next Thursday at the National Education Union headquarters in Mabledon Place, London WC1, from 6.30pm.

Speakers so far confirmed include Ms German, left-wing writer and activist Tariq Ali, Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke and CND general secretary Kate Hudson.