Maduro gets rare int'l boost from Bolivia
16 April 2018 5:16 PM GMT
Caracas: Bolivia's President Evo Morales made a flying visit to Caracas for talks with embattled President Nicolas Maduro on Monday, a month ahead of controversial polls set to give the socialist leader a second term.
Morales' visit provided a rare international show of support for Maduro in the wake of the Summit of the Americas in Lima last week, during which the United States and leaders from across Latin America warned the May 20 vote would lack legitimacy and credibility.
Venezuela's main opposition is boycotting the vote on the grounds that there are no guarantees that it will be free and fair.
The leftist Bolivian leader was received with full military honours at Maduro's presidential palace.
"We are anti-imperialist and no-one is going to blackmail us," Morales said in brief statement to reporters after the one-hour meeting.
"We revolutionaries are recognised by our peoples," Morales said in a brief statement to reporters after the one-hour meeting with Maduro.
The May 20 poll would be "void of legitimacy and credibility" if it went ahead under current conditions, the Western Hemisphere nations said in a joint declaration released at the summit in Peru.Maduro was not invited to the summit, but Morales defended him, condemning particularly the US sanctions against Maduro's government and regretting his Venezuelan counterpart's absence -- which he blamed on US pressure.
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