Ex-Head of Venezuela's PDVSA Energy Firm Says Ready to Run for Presidency

07:06 GMT, 1 February 2019

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Venezuelan politician Rafael Ramirez, former president of Venezuelan state-owned energy company PDVSA, said on Friday that he was ready to run for the presidency if a presidential election was held in the country.

Sputnik

"Without any doubt… I believe I'll be able to save all the best that there is in our country", Ramirez told Venezuelan news website El Pitazo, when asked if he would like to run for the presidency.

Ramirez voiced the belief that neither legitimate President Nicolas Maduro nor self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido was authorised to legitimately govern Venezuela.

"Let's call on the people to hold a free, competitive, and democratic election in order to restore Venezuela and save it from the tragedy, which they both represent", he added.

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Apart from being PDVSA president between 2004 and 2014, Ramirez also served as Venezuelan energy minister between 2002 to 2014 and as Venezuelan foreign minister in 2014. From 2014 to 2017, he was Venezuela's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Venezuela is currently going through a political crisis, with Guaido having declared himself the country's interim president on 23 January. His move received support from the United States and a number of allies, while Maduro accused Washington of staging a coup.