Diplomats walk out as Venezuela hits US in UN speech

Several dozen diplomats walked out from the UN General Assembly Wednesday to protest a speech by Venezuela's foreign minister, who denounced US calls on the world body to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza took the General Assembly rostrum in the name of the Non-Aligned Movement as part of a special UN session devoted to the value of multilateralism.

Walking out were between 30 and 40 diplomats from the Lima Group, the coalition of Latin American nations and Canada that have nearly all recognized Guaido and declared the leftist Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate after widely criticized elections.

In his speech, Arreaza accused the United States of wanting to "impose a dictatorship" at the United Nations through its "blatant attempt to expel or withdraw recognition of the credentials of member-states with full rights such as Venezuela."