UN council to meet on Venezuela after deadly clashes

The United States requested the meeting to be held in open session at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Four people died in clashes at the weekend on Venezuela's border with Brazil between security forces and civilians seeking to bring in aid. Several hundred more were injured in violence at the borders with Colombia and Brazil.

The request came as US Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Colombia to meet opposition leader Juan Guaido in a show of support for his bid to replace President Nicolas Maduro.

The United States is leading a push to recognize Guaido, backed by about 50 countries including Britain, France, Germany and several Latin American nations such as Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

Russia and China continue to back Maduro, creating a global split that has left the United Nations in a quandary.

Despite Moscow's opposition to the US policy on Venezuela, diplomats said it was unlikely that Russia would call a procedural vote to try to block the meeting, as it did when the council met on Venezuela on January 26.

Russia, China, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea opposed the US bid to raise Venezuela at the council last month while Ivory Coast and Indonesia abstained. Nine countries voted in favor.

A council diplomat said the United States had secured at least nine votes needed to hold the meeting in the 15-nation body.

The council will hear a briefing from UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo on the situation in Venezuela.

Meanwhile negotiations were continuing on a US-drafted resolution that would provide for "the immediate start of a political process leading to free, fair and credible presidential elections" with the presence of international observers.

Russia has put forward its own rival draft that criticizes "attempts to intervene" in Venezuela's affairs and expressed concerns over "threats to use force."

Venezuela's economy is in a tailspin marked by hyperinflation and shortages of basic necessities that the opposition blames on corruption and mismanagement by the Maduro government.

Millions of Venezuelans have been left struggling with poverty, while 2.7 million have fled the country since 2015, unleashing a migration crisis in South America.