One of the tough questions facing the Administration of Joe Biden is how to deal with Venezuela’s illegitimate Maduro government, and the humanitarian crisis caused by the repression and corruption of the regime.
One of the tough questions facing the Administration of Joe Biden is how to deal with Venezuela’s illegitimate Maduro government, and the humanitarian crisis caused by the repression and corruption of Nicolas Maduro and his cohorts.
“The overriding goal of the Biden-Harris administration is to support a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections, and to help the Venezuelan people rebuild their lives and country,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price:
“Venezuelans have a right to democracy and a government that promotes and defends it, just like everyone else in this hemisphere. President Biden, you have heard him say this even before he was elected President Biden. He understands the pain that the current crisis in Venezuela has inflicted on the people of Venezuela and their families. Again, Maduro is a dictator. His repression, corruption, and mismanagement have created one of the most dire humanitarian crises this hemisphere has seen.”
Spokesperson Price noted that in dealing with Venezuela, the Biden Administration will follow four basic principles:
“ One, designating, as appropriate, Venezuelans – Venezuela for temporary protected status. Number two, addressing the humanitarian concerns of millions of Venezuelans with international partners. Number three, targeting regime officials and their cronies involved in corruption and human rights abuses. And number four, again, aiding and restoring a peaceful, stable, democratic future for Venezuelans and the regime, both through free and fair elections and a long-term economic recovery.”
“Nicolas Maduro is a dictator, there is no doubt about that,” said spokesperson Price, adding that he “[does not] expect this administration to be engaging directly with Maduro. Instead, he said, the United States will work through allies and partners.
“We will do that with our partners in the region, we will do that with our European partners and allies, we’ll do that with the OAS, we will do that through the Lima Group, through a number of fora, likeminded fora that share the same goals of bringing about democracy and human rights and an end to this corrupt dictatorship in Venezuela.”
“The United States continues to recognize the 2015 National Assembly as the last remaining democratic institution in Venezuela,” said Spokesperson Price, “and consistent with that, the person chosen by the National Assembly to be its president as the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido.”
Source: VOA
