“Despite some [foreign] governments’ wish to engage us in a conflict, war, that will not happen. There is a great spirit of peace between the nations of Latin America,” Arreaza said on Thursday.
At the same time, he is not ruling out foreign attempts to use mercenaries and armed units to escalate the situation.
"As the saying goes, you need to know who is the master of the circus. President [Nicolas] Maduro yesterday broke off relations with the owner of the circus, with the United States. Satellite governments, submissive governments are following the instructions of the master," Arreaza said.
The foreign minister went on to express hope that the leadership of those countries will start to respect their people and the people of Latin America.
"But if this does not happen, then it would be obvious to us who the main interlocutor speaking for everyone, that is the government in Washington," Arreaza noted.
Jorge Arreaza also said that the US recognition of the leader of the opposition-run parliament as the country’s interim president may result in transfer of Venezuelan assets frozen in the United States to the opposition.
“That is a plan … You know that both the Venezuelan political opposition and the United States have primarily financial interests. They want to take Venezuelan treasures as well as external assets … The US government does not respect any laws and norms and, of course, they will try to use some illegal ways [to transfer Venezuelan assets to the opposition],” Arreaza said on Thursday.
Over the past few days, Venezuela has been witnessing mass anti-government protests. On Wednesday, the leader of the opposition-run parliament, Juan Guaido, declared himself the country's interim president.
The United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Colombia, among others, have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president, while other countries, including Russia and Mexico, expressed support for incumbent President Nicolas Maduro.
