- as
exiled Venezuelans yearn for home but fear
a long wait before they can return and Venezuela's top military envoy to
the USA defects,
the USA - and Australia
and some other nations – have recognised
Venezuela's Opposition Leader as interim
President (leading to Russian accusations
that the USA is attempting “to engineer a coup d’état”, and attempts by the
self-appointed president to wrest control of the nation’s state oil company, shortly before the USA imposed sanctions),
while Europe has gave an eight day ultimatum for free and fair elections and then recognised
the Opposition Leader as interim
leader (he said his family have been threatened by security forces) and New Zealand has
also called for free
and fair elections (in my opinion, the current incumbent has lost all claims
to legitimacy, but acting on flawed elections is not the solution: I am
concerned this is heading for war [a war that is likely to be more like Syria
than situations where despots have been successfully]deposed – sanctions
already exist. If war comes, one question is the extent of international
involvement: arming one side of an internal civil war only, or more active. The
best solution would be for the incumbent to go peacefully, and for that, he
would need a place of refuge);
