Havana, February 19 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez renewed the country’s denunciation that the U.S. government is preparing a military intervention in Venezuela.

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday with national and international press, the Cuban foreign minister said: “The mere ultimatum given to the Venezuelan government to allow entry of supposed humanitarian aid is counterproductive.  The overall aim is to provoke an incident that could be used as a pretext to invade the country.”

The Cuban top diplomat insisted that the U.S. continues pressuring members of the UN Security Council to approve an anti-Venezuelan resolution, which he said would lead to other well-known steps, including a no-fly zone as a prelude to invade the country.

He emphasized Cuba's hope that common sense prevails in the Security Council towards preserving peace in Venezuela and all Latin America and Caribbean nations.

Minister Bruno Rodríguez then issued a call on the international community to defend peace and prevent a military invasion of Venezuela. “What is at stake,” he said, “is the prevalence of international law and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.”

Cuba called on the Montevideo Mechanism and the members of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, to step up their efforts and actions in defense of international law and the principles of non-interference and non-intervention, above any political or ideological differences.

Cuba also called on parliaments, political forces, unions, social movements, intellectuals, journalists, NGOs and representatives of civil society around the globe to express their solidarity with Venezuela and to defend the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace.

Rodriguez said that Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, has been the main plotter and advocate of the failed coup in Venezuela.

He added that in his speech Monday in Miami, Trump spoke about democracy, without mentioning the situation of African-Americans, and the millions of people in the U.S. who lack health insurance or social security. He didn’t mention the wall he wants to build on the border with Mexico, or the dozens of wars launched by the U.S. around the world, or the torture practices and human rights violations committed by U.S. soldiers abroad.

The foreign minister blasted Trump’s claim that Cuba has a secret army operating in Venezuela and noted that what the island has is an army of teachers and doctors, who are offering their services for the benefit of the Venezauelan people.

Cuban collaborators in Venezuela, he said,  voted massively on the new Cuban Constitution last Sunday and he stressed that the island´s future will be decided by the Cuban people next February 24th, when more than eight million voters participate in the referendum  on the country’s new Magna Carta.