RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met with observers, including a Russian delegation, who have arrived in the country to monitor the upcoming parliamentary election.
According to a video tweeted by Maduro, the Venezuelan leader met with observer delegations from Russia, Iran, and Turkey on Saturday.
Maduro also met with Bolivia’s former president, Evo Morales, on Saturday. Morales is heading the Bolivian observer delegation to Venezuela.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia’s embassy in Caracas told Sputnik that a high-level Russian delegation had arrived in the Venezuelan capital for an observing mission.
The Venezuelan National Assembly election is scheduled for Sunday. The opposition bloc of Juan Guaidó has refused to participate in the vote.
In January 2019, Venezuela plunged into a political crisis when the then-head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust re-elected Maduro from power.
The United States and most Western countries endorsed Guaidó and slapped crippling sanctions on Venezuela. Russia, China, Turkey, and several other nations have been supporting Maduro.