CARACAS, Venezuela — The leader of Venezuela’s armed forces declared loyalty to President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday and said the opposition’s effort to replace him with a transitional government amounted to an attempted coup.
The pronouncement by the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, came a day after an opposition lawmaker proclaimed himself the country’s rightful leader during nationwide protests and pleaded with the armed forces to abandon Mr. Maduro.
The defense minister’s declaration was a setback for the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, whose claim to legitimacy has been backed by a number of countries, including the United States. In a further blow to the opposition, Russia warned the United States on Thursday against meddling in Venezuela, a longtime Kremlin ally that has received billions of dollars in Russian support.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia telephoned Mr. Maduro and “emphasized that destructive external interference is a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international law,” according to a statement on Mr. Putin’s official website.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ignored the admonitions and intensified the Trump administration’s call for other countries to accept Mr. Guaidó and renounce Mr. Maduro.
“His regime is morally bankrupt, it’s economically incompetent, and it is profoundly corrupt, and it is undemocratic to the core,” Mr. Pompeo told a meeting of the 35-member Organization of American States in Washington.
The United States also offered $20 million in emergency aid to Mr. Guaidó’s side and requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday on the Venezuela crisis. Diplomats said Mr. Pompeo was expected to attend.
Taken together, the events escalated the confusion and conflict over who is the rightful president of Venezuela, the oil-rich and formerly prosperous country upended by political repression and severe economic hardship under Mr. Maduro.
Opposition leaders had hoped key members of the armed forces would break ranks with Mr. Maduro following large demonstrations across the country and international pledges of support for Mr. Guaidó, including the Trump administration’s repeated warnings that a “military option” is possible for restoring democracy in Venezuela.
But so far, senior military commanders appear to be siding with Mr. Maduro, even as they express alarm over the possible consequences of rival claims to power.
“We’re here to avoid a clash between Venezuelans,” Mr. Padrino, the defense minister, said in a televised address, flanked by high-ranking officers. “It’s not a civil war, a war among brothers, that will resolve Venezuelans’ problems.”
Mr. Padrino called Mr. Guaidó’s claim to power “laughable” and described him as a pawn of right wing factions subservient to the United States.
“It makes you want to laugh,” he said. “But I must alert the people of the danger this represents.”
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Organization of American States have also recognized Mr. Guaidó as the country’s leader. Others in the region, however, have not, including Mexico, as well as Cuba and Bolivia, longtime allies of Mr. Maduro.
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