Caracas, January 8 (RHC)-- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has called on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to respect international law as well as the sovereignty of the South American country with regards to the National Assembly's newly-elected leadership.

“Mr. Pompeo, consider for once that your strategy failed.  You showed no skills as puppeteers and now you lost your main puppet.  Respect international law, the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people, and go back to the path of civilized diplomacy, ” the minister said.

Arreaza's statement comes after Pompeo ignored the sovereign decision of the Venezuelan National Assembly to elect a new leadership.  "The United States will continue to support President Juan Guaido and the people of Venezuela," the U.S. secretary of state had stated from Washington.

After the election of the Assembly's new leadership, the head of Venezuelan diplomacy also condemned the comments of U.S. Department of State and Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak, who described the election of lawmaker Luis Parra as the new president of the national assembly as a "farce.”

"We reject the Trump Administration’s vulgar interventionism in the internal affairs of Venezuela and its institutions. They do not quite understand that we are an independent and sovereign country. They should deal with the disaster they intend to cause with new wars for oil," Arreaza added.

Lawmaker Juan Guaido was replaced as president of the Assembly after elections were held according to the country’s Constitution, as 81 lawmakers voted for opposition politician Parra to become the new president of the legislative body in a session with enough a quorum of 150 lawmakers. 

Guaido did not reach the necessary votes but tried to boycott the process by proclaiming himself president in parallel and illegally, with the support of the Western media.  Soon after he proclaimed himself president of the National Assembly.