Condemning attempted assassination of Venezuelan President

Dear Editor,
I wish to unequivocally condemn the attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This is clearly intended to further destabilise the serious situation existing in Venezuela.
Such an attempt is intended to achieve political ends by murder. It is possibly the intentions of the intellectual authors of this crime to seize power by force and/or to push the country to civil war.
For too long, Latin America has suffered from coups, assassinations, and military style dictatorships. The history of the region demonstrates that such situations lead to social, economic and political degeneration, in which ordinary working people are the most injured.
The history and events of other regions tell the same tale. Just a casual glance at the Middle East, Iraq, Libya, Syria and others confirms the universality of such diabolical acts.
As a neighbour of Venezuela, I encourage all the social and political forces in Guyana to raise their voices in condemnation of this attempted assassination of that country’s president. Guyana will not be unaffected by such undemocratic and murderous acts.
I therefore call on all legitimate Venezuelan forces to engage in meaningful dialogue to arrive at acceptable decisions.
Once more, I wish to reiterate my own opposition to political assassination as a form of legitimate struggle.
Finally, I wish to extend best wishes for a peaceful solution to all the people of Venezuela fighting for social and economic progress.

Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
Former Guyana President