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Bolivian President Evo Morales is requesting a summit be held by the South American Union of Nations (Unasur) to address U.S. interference in Venezuela's affairs.
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An emergency meeting must be called by Unasur to reinforce the sovereignty of the nation's people, Morales said, following U.S. Secretary Rex Tillerson's tour of Latin America and the Caribbean last week.
"Tillerson comes to visit several countries, I imagine, to convince or influence his right-wing presidents to participate in a military intervention or drowning in Venezuela," Morales said on his radio program "Walking Together with the People."
Morales defended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after U.S. Senator Marco Rubio posted on Twitter on Friday that he believes now is the "best time" for a military coup, citing "humanitarian reasons."
During the '70s’ and '80s, the U.S.-backed state terrorism organization Plan Condor was created with the same reasoning, Morales said.
The group targeted not only union leaders, but also anti-capitalists and left-wing politicians opposing dictatorships in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay.
It was also the cause of more than 50,000 deaths; 400,000 incarcerations and 30,000 disappearances, and was closely linked to the CIA.
"I want to take this opportunity to express our solidarity with Venezuela, given the constant threats of intervention. The United States must stop threatening; Unasur should call an emergency meeting and enforce the sovereignty of a brotherly people," Morales wrote on Twitter.
Last week, Tillerson traveled Latin America and the Caribbean to gauge how an organized international effort targeting Venezuela's oil industry would affect smaller Caribbean countries and to garner support for further sanctions.
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The political atmosphere is changing as Latin American leaders exercise their influence to bar Maduro from the Summit of the Americas due to be held in Lima, Peru, in April because of his decision to proceed with presidential elections despite failing to reach an agreement with the opposition.
In a statement Tuesday, the group of Latin American nations plus Canada said the election would not be free and fair as long as Venezuela has political prisoners, the opposition was not fully participating, and Venezuelans abroad were not allowed to vote. The group then urged the government to present a new electoral calendar.
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, host of the Lima conference due to be held on April 13 and 14, wrote on Twitter: "Considering the current situation in Venezuela, my government has decided that President Maduro's presence is not welcome anymore at the Summit of the Americas."
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