OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:22 AM PT — Monday, Dec. 10, 2018
President Nicolas Maduro is continuing his attacks against the U.S. despite receiving backlash about the authenticity of his own presidential election earlier this year.
Maduro cast his ballot in this weekend’s local elections, and used the opportunity to accuse the U.S. of disrupting the country’s democracy. He claimed the Trump administration is working to stage a coup against the country’s leadership and institutions.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks after voting in local elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
“Today, they are working, they are coordinating directly with the White House to try and disturb democratic life in Venezuela, and for an attempted coup against the constitutional regime and the freedom of our country,” stated Maduro.
Since 2015, the struggling socialist country has forced millions of its citizens to flee to neighboring countries out of desperation, with many unable to find food, medicine or jobs.
The resulting influx of migrants has caused strain on dozens of countries, leading them to turn to the United Nations for help earlier this month. 16 countries requested hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for next year to help address the crisis.
“There’s one crisis for which we for the first time have a response plan, which is to help the countries neighboring Venezuela deal with the consequences of large numbers of Venezuelans leaving the country,” explained Mark Lowcock, UN emergency relief coordinator. “And what we’re trying to do is scale up our support in areas like health services and nutrition, and there are discussions going on in respect to that.”
According to reports, the recent elections included nearly 2,500 local council members up for election across 335 municipalities. However, many Venezuelans, as well as the international community, are casting doubt on the outcome of Venezuela’s presidential election earlier this year by saying the results were the result of a fraudulent system.
Meanwhile, hyperinflation continues to plague the socialist country. The latest move from Maduro to dramatically increase the minimum wage is expected to lead to one million-percent inflation by the end of the year.
