THE Organisation of American States (OAS) baulked at suspending Venezuela on Tuesday in support of its right-wing opposition.

It was the second time the Washington-based body had foiled Secretary General Luis Almagro’s schemes to invoke its Democratic Charter against Caracas.

A vote on the move — called by the US, Canada and a dozen right-wing regional governments — was abandoned in face of opposition from Venezuela’s allies.

Instead the representatives urged dialogue between United Socialist Party (PSUV) President Nicolas Maduro’s government and the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) opposition, which has boycotted talks since January.

Deputy Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada — a former ambassador to London — said: “If the US really wants to help Venezuela, it must repeal Obama’s decree against our country.”

He was referring to the former US president’s 2015 executive order declaring Caracas “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and foreign policy — following a year of US-supported regime change riots that left 43 dead.

“Today it was demonstrated in the OAS that there is an act of interventionism being planned against Venezuela that is in violation of international law,” Mr Moncada said.

“We strongly reject the crude acts of the group of countries that signed to support an intervention in Venezuela.”

Bolivia and Nicaragua earlier joined Venezuela in calling for the meeting to be cancelled, calling it a violation of sovereignty.

And the Dominican Republic said the proposed move was “hypocritical” as the OAS took no action when the US invaded it in 1965.

Former Dominican president Leonel Fernandez is one of several high-level mediators in the stalled talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition.