Alwaght- Russia and China vetoed a US-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution calling for snap presidential election in Venezuela.
The resolution, which supported Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido, came up for vote at the 15-member council on Thursday.
The US text garnered a minimum nine votes - forcing the double veto, while South Africa also voted no. Three countries abstained.
The council then voted on a rival Russian draft that aimed to express support for a political solution and back the Venezuelan government as the primary coordinator of international assistance efforts in the country. The Russian text also failed after to get enough votes.
A council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, France, Britain or the US to pass.
"We are seriously concerned about the fact that today's meeting may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real, not humanitarian, intervention ... as a result of the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela," Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after the vote on the US draft resolution.
After months of economic and political clashes, Venezuela plunged further into chaos in January after Guaido, the former head of the country’s National Assembly, proclaimed himself “interim president” and urged President Nicolas Maduro to resign.
This while Maduro had just begun his second six-year term in office after a decisive election victory over the US-backed opposition.
Washington rushed to support Guaido and imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry. US President Donald Trump and other American officials have also threatened Caracas with military action.
Guaido has welcomed the support and has openly tried to contact the Trump administration and other regional governments to cement his position.
Maduro’s government has closed borders with Brazil and Colombia in order to block what US insists are aid shipments.
Russia, which supports Maduro, has warned that Washington is using the aid scenario as a cover to arm Guaido and his supporters and lay the foundation for a military intervention.
