VENEZUELA denounced its suspension from regional trade bloc Mercosur, calling it “ideological and political aggression” on Saturday.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro publicly requested a meeting with his Uruguayan counterpart Tabare Vasquez over what he called an “unjust, illegal decision, motivated by the Venezuelan right.”

The moves to suspend Venezuela from Mercosur have coincided with the latest attempts by the US-backed Venezuelan opposition to overthrow the United Socialist Party government.