Venezuela's Guaido thanks Canada for support

Venezuela is going through "a kind of war", with refugee flows within the country on a par with Syria, Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido said Monday. He was speaking in Ottawa after talks with Canada's foreign affairs minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. Guaido said five million Venezuelans had fled their homes to escape the country's economic collapse.

"We live a kind of war when we compare the indicators," he said. "We see the case of Syria, Venezuela has five million migrants, so it is just about to surpass it."

Guaido travelled to Canada as part of an international tour to rally support for his campaign to oust Venezuela's government led by President Nicolás Maduro.The opposition leader, who is defying a Maduro-imposed travel ban by venturing abroad, said he  appreciated Canada's backing.

He thanked Canada and other members of the so-called Lima Group of countries for what he called their enormous effort in support of his cause.

Last year in Ottawa, Canada hosted a meeting of the Lima Group which called on Venezuela's military to switch allegiance and support Guaido as a step towards ending the country's political and economic crisis.