US to be defeated once, again: Venezuela

By Bayram Altug</p> <p>GENEVA (AA) – Venezuela’s foreign minister on Wednesday criticized the U.S.’s rejection for his call to have talks between the presidents of the two countries.</p> <p> &quot;That’s what they always do,” Jorge Arreaza told Anadolu Agency. ”They don’t like dialogue. They would like war. But they will be defeated once again.&quot; </p> <p>Arreaza said he is glad for Turkey’s support of Venezuela from the beginning of the crisis and Turkey is an important country and has become Venezuela’s brothers and sisters.</p> <p> &quot;President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has been there, standing in solidarity with Venezuela, but with the principles of the United Nations and stopping any kind of aggression to our country,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Washington dismissed Arreaza’s suggestion that President Nicolas Maduro have a sit-down with U.S. President Donald Trump.</p> <p> &quot;Why shouldn't they meet so that they can try to find common ground and work out differences?&quot; Arreaza asked rhetorically to the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Wednesday.</p> <p>Robert Wood, the U.S. permanent representative to the Disarmament Conference, rejected the calls for dialogue. &quot;President Trump is preparing to meet with the rightful president of Venezuela, that is [Juan] Guaido,” he said. </p> <p>Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10, when Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition.</p> <p>Tensions escalated when Guaido, who heads Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself acting president Jan. 23, a move which was supported by the U.S. and many European and Latin American countries.</p> <p>Turkey, Russia, Iran, Cuba, China, and Bolivia put their weight behind Maduro, who has vowed to cut all diplomatic and political ties with the U.S. </p> <p>Trump pointed to military intervention as a possibility of a number of choices he could use to help solve the crisis.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>