- Title: Guatemalan president-elect accuses Venezuela's Maduro of destabilising region
- Date: 13th October 2019
- Summary: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (OCTOBER 12, 2019) (REUTERS) PRESIDENT-ELECT ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE GIAMMATTEI AT NEWS CONFERENCE OFFICIAL AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT-ELECT ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI, SAYING: "That is how dictators act. I have been treated in that way (after being denied entry into Venezuela), and also wanting us to seek permission from a man that we don't recognise as the president of Venezuela. I recognize, president Juan Guaido as Venezuelan president." OFFICIAL FROM GOVERNMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT-ELECT ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI, SAYING: "For president Guaido to call free and democratic elections that re-establish democracy in Venezuela, and to stabilise a region which is unstable. Venezuela has sparked tensions in Colombia by protecting the FARC. In Ecuador he is paying for its destabilisation. There is destabilisation in Nicaragua." OFFICIAL AT NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT-ELECT ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI, SAYING: "Because 80% of drugs shipments that come through Guatemala and a large part of Central America come from Venezuela, via air and from its ports. That's 80% of shipments that come through Central America. It's a little higher than what goes through the Caribbean, a little higher than what goes to Europe. A totalitarian state that violates the human rights of people. " GIAMMATTEI LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 27th October 2019 18:37
- Keywords: president-elect Alejandro Giammattei Guatemala Venezuela Caracas denied entry opposition leader Juan Guaido President Nicolas Maduro
- Location: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- City: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- Country: Guatemala
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0XHY6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Guatemalan president-elect Alejandro Giammattei hit out at President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday (October 12) night, after he was denied entry into Venezuela for talks with opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Guaido said that Alejandro Giammattei, a conservative who won the Central American country's presidency in August, landed at the Simon Bolivar international airport near the capital Caracas, but his entry was impeded.
Guaido, who leads Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly, was recognised as the country's rightful leader by dozens of other nations in January, including Guatemala.
In a news conference in Guatemala shortly after landing, Giammattei accused Maduro of destabilising Latin America by backing violent protests in Ecuador and rebels in Colombia.
Venezuela's information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Maduro on Giammattei, The Venezuelan president has lambasted Guaido and his critics as proponents of a U.S.-backed puppet seeking to oust him in a coup.
Maduro has overseen an economic collapse in the once-prosperous OPEC nation, and is accused of corruption and human rights violations.
(Production: Milton Castillo, Rodolfo Pena Roja) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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