Juan Guaidó Awaits Decision By Opposition Leaders On January 3
December 29, 2022—It isn’t just Venezuela’s opposition that awaits trial in a vote now scheduled for Tuesday, it’s Washington’s strategy of imposing an interim government and ad hoc president for a country lacking fair elections.
On December 21 a coalition of Venezuelan opposition leaders voted to end the interim government and Juan Guaidó as its head. Three of the four opposition parties supported the non-binding vote. They were scheduled to make that vote final today but have postponed that decision until Tuesday.
“From a political point of view, it has ceased to be useful for the democratization of Venezuela and is of no interest to the citizens,” the parties announced in a joint statement, according to a news report by Le Monde.
Furthermore, the parties said the interim government had been a vehicle for corruption scandals.
Venezuela In Crisis
Venezuela has struggled with economic and political crises since 2014. The socialist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro had destroyed democratic institutions and left much of the country in poverty. Since then seven million people fled the country. Those left back home have little reason for hope.
Guaidó is recognized by the United States and more than 50 other countries as the rightful leader of the country in the aftermath of the 2018 fraudulent election. The opposition boycotted the 2018 and 2020 elections but took part in regional and mayoral elections in 2021.
A Failed Strategy
It was clear Guaidó was in trouble early last year. That’s when opposition leaders openly complained that the interim leader and government had failed to realistically challenge the rule of Nicolás Maduro.
“We don’t have unity, we don’t have a strategy, and we don’t have a clear route,” Julio Borges, former deputy of the National Assembly, wrote at the time.
Today, with negotiations with Maduro pending in 2023 and elections due in 2024, the opposition is scrambling for a new strategy.
For his part,
Detachment and empathy must be part of the actions of every political leader. As we have said, this is not a Juan Guaidó issue, it is an issue focused on maintaining an institution that is a fighting tool to achieve democracy.
Talks in Mexico To Resume
Talks between the opposition and the Maduro government are set to resume next month, the New York Times reported. They have been stalled for more than a year. Washington, however, has opened up some lines of communication amidst geopolitical changes due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The Maduro regime is eager to ease sanctions and gain access to its assets abroad, including gold reserves held by the Bank of England and oil reserves held by CITGO in Texas.
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