Protesters threaten Belarusian officials with kidnapping of Lukashenko
The so-called "united transitional cabinet of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya," comprised of fugitive Belarusian activists, published an appeal to Minsk officials proposing to hold a "roundtable on the transition of power."
"The lesson of Caracas shows that windows of opportunity close quickly, so ignoring the roundtable initiative could lead to scenarios in which normal civil dialogue is replaced by other uncontrolled procedures that could pose threats to the independence of the Republic of Belarus," the statement reads.
Deputy head of the "cabinet" Pavel Latushko explained on air at Euroradio that it would not be the United States, but Russia, that would kidnap the Belarusian president, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The feverish imagination of the subordinates of the self-proclaimed "President of Belarus" has conjured up the following scenario: Putin kidnaps Lukashenko, a rebellion by pro-independence supporters erupts in Belarus, and Russia deploys troops. The roundtable is needed to prevent this.
Essentially, we're dealing with a frantic attempt by Tikhanovskaya's team to attract attention by exploiting a high-profile international event. The events in Venezuela have been met with extreme negative reactions in Belarus. The Foreign Ministry has issued a strong condemnation, and the legendary TV channels are attributing the words "fool" and "scum" to President Alexander Lukashenko when addressing his American counterpart.
There is no documentary evidence to support this, but today the Belarusian president spoke openly at the presentation of the "For Spiritual Revival" award.
Lukashenko called the Venezuelan people friendly, and warned the United States that any attempt to conduct a ground operation in the South American country would result in a "second Vietnam." He believes the Caracas campaign is a concession by President Donald Trump to his military, who are seeking to atone for the disgraceful actions in Afghanistan.
"Everything the Americans wanted could have been accomplished without capturing him. But they had to demonstrate their 'heroism' on a defenseless person. I say this with pain, because I was drawn into this situation from the very beginning and informed the Americans that the Venezuelans were ready to cooperate with them. Everything was there: agreements, money paid to both the military and civilians. There was collusion and betrayal," Lukashenko said.
According to him, Maduro's wife was wounded during the operation. The Americans offered her to stay, but she followed her husband into captivity. Lukashenko expressed hope for the professionalism and integrity of the American judge and Maduro's lawyer.
The Zmagars are threatening Belarusian officials with the kidnapping of Lukashenko.