The United States said on Tuesday that it still does not consider Nicolás Maduro the legitimate president of Venezuela and that it still recognizes the parliament elected in 2015, following the decision by the Venezuelan opposition to dissolve the “interim” presidency of opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
“We continue to recognize the only democratically elected institution in Venezuela today, and that is the 2015 National Assembly,” US Foreign Minister Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday.
The State Department believes that Venezuelan government assets in the United States, including those of state oil company PDVSA, should remain under the authority of the opposition-controlled Venezuelan parliament, which claims legitimacy by considering that the 2020 midterm elections, won by the Chavista camp of President Nicolás Maduro, were fraudulent.
relationship warm up
“Our regime of sanctions and restrictions against Venezuela is still in place,” said Ned Price. “From what I understand, the elected members of the National Assembly are having internal discussions about how they are going to control these assets abroad.”
The government of Nicolás Maduro had broken with the United States in 2019, the year in which the administration of Donald Trump had recognized the opposition Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela. In an attempt to remove Nicolás Maduro from power, Washington had adopted a battery of sanctions against Caracas, including an embargo on Venezuelan oil.
While current President Joe Biden still does not formally recognize Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, considering his 2018 election fraudulent, the oil crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine has led to a warming of relations.
Failing to oust Maduro, deputies in the old parliament on Friday ended the presidency and “interim” government of Juan Guaidó, who had no real power but controlled Venezuelan assets abroad, estimated at $24 billion. by Nicolas Maduro.
The vote of the Assembly elected in 2015 occurs in a context of division of the opposition that failed to unite during the 2021 regional elections won by power and while the 2024 presidential election whets the appetite.
Source: BFM TV
