bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

The president-elect of Guatemala said he was blocked Saturday from entering Venezuela where he planned to meet opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is seeking to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
Officials defended their actions, saying Guatemala’s incoming leader, Alejandro Giammattei, was turned away because he broke with normal protocol followed by heads of state.

The commercial flight carrying Giammattei, who takes office in Guatemala on January 14, made an early morning landing at the airport near Caracas, but his visit ended there.
“They didn’t allow our entry into Venezuela,” Giammattei said in a video posted on Twitter. “They escorted us to the gate and put us on the returning plane.”

Nos encontramos en Panamá luego del incidente en el cual nos impidieron la entrada a Venezuela, agradezco a todos por sus muestras de solidaridad y reitero mi apoyo al presidente @jguaido. #TransiciónGT pic.twitter.com/himuQuO9Pd
— Alejandro Giammattei (@DrGiammattei) October 12, 2019

Giammattei expresses his support for Guaido in the video shot from the plane about to depart.
Guaido, who travelled to the airport to greet the foreign leader, launched a campaign early this year with backing from more than 50 nations to unseat Maduro. Critics accuse Maduro of claiming a second term following a fraudulent election in 2018, while overseeing the once-wealthy oil-nation’s economic and social collapse.
Giammattei said in another video that in Caracas he planned to invite Guaido to his inauguration in Guatemala and press for Venezuela’s return to democracy, including the release of political prisoners and the immediate call to elections.
Guaido later spoke at a private university where he was to meet with Giammattei, saying Maduro’s government used “unprecedented, unnecessary diplomatic aggression” by refusing the Guatemalan leader.
Russia’s Putin calls for talks to resolve Venezuela crisis
Maduro’s government said Giammatei is well-known as the incoming president of Guatemala, but rather than entering as such, Giammattei presented an Italian passport and said he came as a tourist making a private visit.
“A visit to Venezuela by high-level foreign officials requires not only bilateral coordination that include setting an agenda, arranging security and issuing visas, but also the presentation of credentials and identification of the country that fulfilled of government,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement.
Maduro maintains control of Venezuela with the backing of the military and international support from key allies Cuba, Russia and China.
The United States supports Guaido and has imposed sanctions on Venezuela as it tries to force Maduro from power.


Peru Congress picks country’s eighth president in a decade

Top US commander makes surprise visit to Venezuela weeks after Maduro capture

11 killed in US strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats

Spain to send humanitarian aid to Cuba through UN amid US fuel blockade

Venezuela

Venezuela denies entry of Guatemala’s president-elect ahead of planned meeting with opposition leader Juan Guaido

Guatemala's President-elect Alejandro Giammattei. Photo: Reuters

Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido speaks during a press conference after the government barred Guatemala's president-elect Alejandro Giammattei from entering the country, at the Metropolitan University (Unimet) in Caracas, on October 12, 2019. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)

Vladimir Putin calls for dialogue between Venezuela’s Maduro and the opposition

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Photo: EPA

Lawmakers attend a meeting at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. Socialist lawmakers entered Venezuela’s National Assembly for the first time in two years and exchanged insults with the opposition in a session held after an agreement between President Nicolas Maduro and minor parties. Photographer: Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg

epa07868012 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 25 September 2019. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is on a working visit to Moscow. EPA-EFE/ALEXEI DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL / POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

National Assembly President and self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaido speaks during a legislative session in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. Socialist party lawmakers ended their two-year boycott of Venezuela’s legislature Tuesday, seeking to renew their influence in the last branch of federal government still controlled by the opposition amidst a lengthy power struggle. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

US ‘in secret talks’ with Venezuela’s socialist party boss in bid to end political crisis

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (right) speaks with United Socialist Party of Venezuela Vice-President Diosdado Cabello in January. Photo: AP

(FILES) In this file picture taken on August 12, 2019 the president of the Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, gestures during a session at the Assembly's headquarters in Caracas. - Threatening to bring forward legislative elections is the final card Venezuela's regime has to play in its bid to hold onto power and hold off a US-backed opposition, analysts say. Powerful regime leader Diosdado Cabello, president of the controversial Constituent Assembly, said on August 12, 2019 he was studying the possibility of calling parliamentary elections -- scheduled for December 2020 -- at the start of next year. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)

Opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaido, greets supporters at a rally, as he visits his birthplace of La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Leonardo Fernandez)

News

World

Americas


In a video posted to Twitter, Alejandro Giammattei said that his delegation had been put on a plane back to Guatemala



In a video posted to Twitter, Alejandro Giammattei said that his delegation had been put on a plane back to Guatemala.


Venezuelan crisis

United States

Russia

Diplomacy

Venezuela denies entry of Guatemala’s president-elect ahead of planned meeting with opposition leader Juan Guaido

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} In a video posted to Twitter, Alejandro Giammattei said that his delegation had been put on a plane back to Guatemala

In a video posted to Twitter, Alejandro Giammattei said that his delegation had been put on a plane back to Guatemala