Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday called on opposition leader and self-proclaimed "interim president" Juan Guaido to reconsider his course of action and stop "the madness of calling for an invasion."
"Reflect and place yourself on the right side of history," Rodriguez said, a day after Guaido said he would not rule out authorizing the United States to launch a military intervention to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
The vice president made the statements amid a government-backed signature drive to show that most Venezuelans do not support foreign intervention in their country, as the opposition claims.
In Caracas' central Bolivar Square, Rodriguez signed the petition, which appeals to U.S. President Donald Trump to respect Venezuelan sovereignty and lift the crippling economic sanctions.
Rodriguez also criticized the country's opposition-controlled National Assembly for debating whether to "authorize" a foreign military incursion in Venezuela.
"There is no country in the world where the supposed parliament advocates foreign military intervention in the country," said Rodriguez. "It's outrageous."
"The Venezuelan people have given very clear signals of what they want: they want peace, they want tranquility (and) to continue to be governed by the Bolivarian Revolution," said Rodriguez, referring to the ruling socialist party's reform movement.
Political tensions in Venezuela between the government and opposition groups came to a head after Maduro was sworn in to a new term on Jan. 10.
The opposition, which largely boycotted the presidential elections in May, refuses to recognize Maduro's reelection win and has been demanding a new round of voting.
With Washington's collaboration, the opposition has arranged for U.S. humanitarian aid to be delivered to the border, but Venezuelan officials have blocked the move, suspecting "it is a pretext to invade Venezuela," said Rodriguez.
