"You have built a mountain of lies, all sorts of manipulations, accusations, [and] a fantasy world to confuse millions of people [about] what occurs today in Venezuela. Today, I am here to stay in touch with reality and tell our truth to the world", Moncada told the OAS members on Friday. "We have to remove the fog of lies from the eyes of the majority of people and the international public opinion. Each state has a sovereign right to recognize whomever they want. To chase us from here, you need to respect the [OAS] Charter".
During the same meeting on Friday, the United States and its allies within the OAS, including Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Guatemala, among others, demanded new elections be held in Venezuela.
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"As head of the transitional government, interim president Juan Guaido has clearly stated his plans to call new elections at the earliest possible date", US Ambassador to the OAS Carlos Trujillo said. "We support interim president Guaido’s plan, at the same time, we should remember that elections alone do not make a democracy".
The OAS member-states also proposed the formation of a group of experts to rebuild electoral institutions in Venezuela.
The US bloc also called for an immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, which drew criticism from the Venezuelan Ambassador who stressed that US allies use a humanitarian aid narrative to justify military action and to hide "cruel ambition".
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Moncada added that in order to end the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, the United States, as well as its allies, should stop the economic blockade against Venezuela and lift the sanctions imposed.
On Tuesday, Guaido told his supporters that US humanitarian aid would be delivered on 23 February. However, Christoph Harnisch, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Columbia, has said his organization would not assist in delivering the goods to Venezuela because the ICRC does not consider the US assistance to be humanitarian aid. Earlier this month, the ICRC warned US officials against politicizing humanitarian assistance and delivering aid without the consent of local authorities.
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The United States and several allies, who have backed self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, have been urging President Nicolas Maduro to step down and calling for new elections in Venezuela. Constitutionally elected Maduro has repeatedly accused Washington of orchestrating a coup and stressed the humanitarian aid is part of the ploy to topple his government.
Russia, China, Mexico, Turkey, Uruguay, and several other states have said that they supported Maduro as the country’s only legitimate president.
