The Trump administration (click here) issued a parting shot at Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday, announcing a sweeping round of stiff financial sanctions that target a network accused of moving oil on behalf of the president’s alleged frontman.
In a sign of future U.S. policy toward Venezuela, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of state, Antony Blinken, during his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing in Washington showed support for the decision to recognize opposition politician and Maduro rival Juan Guaidó.
Blinken also expressed frustration about the results of current U.S. policy, which hasn’t led to free and fair elections in Venezuela. He said there is room for better coordination with allied nations to restore democracy to the crisis-stricken South American nation....
December 28, 2022
By Antonio Maria DelGado
A majority bloc of the Venezuelan opposition (click here) is preparing to dissolve the so-called interim government of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, in a controversial move described as a logical step by
some but that others see as an error that will end up benefittng the Nicolas Maduro regime.
The move against Guidó is supported by more than two thirds of the 112 deputies who originally appointed him as interim president of Venezuela after declaring that Maduro was illegally holding power after committing massive fraud during the 2018 presidential election. While the opposition leader held no real power inside Venezuela, his appointment as Venezuela’s legitimate leader was recognized by the United States and nearly 50 other nations.
The vote to ratify the dissolution of the interim government is scheduled for Thursday, but sources within the National Assembly said the process could extend until Friday or even next week, given that some deputies were requesting on Wednesday to postpone the proceedings....
March 5, 2022
By Anatoly Kurmanaev, Natalie Kitroeff and Kenneth P. Vogel
Senior U.S. officials (click here) are traveling to Venezuela on Saturday to meet with the government of President Nicolás Maduro, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Biden administration steps up efforts to separate Russia from its remaining international allies amid a widening standoff over Ukraine.
The trip is the highest-level visit by Washington officials to Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in years. The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Mr. Maduro and closed its embassy in Caracas in 2019, after accusing the authoritarian leader of electoral fraud. The Trump administration then tried to topple Mr. Maduro’s government by sanctioning Venezuelan oil exports and the country’s senior officials, and by recognizing the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as Venezuela’s lawful president.
Mr. Maduro responded to the sanctions by seeking economic and diplomatic help from Russia, as well as from Iran and China. Russian energy companies and banks have been instrumental in allowing Venezuela to continue exporting oil, the country’s biggest source of foreign currency, despite the sanctions, according to U.S. officials, Venezuelan officials and businessmen...
December 23, 2022
by Joshua Goodman
The l egal fight over Saab's purported diplomatic status was being closely watched by Maduro's socialist government, which has demanded the release of the Colombian-born businessman as part of furtive negotiations with the Biden administration.
The U.S. in 2019 stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader, and Judge Robert Scola cited that determination as a basis for rejecting Saab's motion to dismiss the criminal charges.
He also sided with prosecutors who raised doubts about the legitimacy of several official Venezuelan credentials that Saab relied on to bolster his claim to diplomatic status — and questioned why he never mentioned his purported diplomatic status in several secret meetings with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
“The evidence suggests that the Maduro regime and its accomplices have fabricated documents to cloak Saab Moran in a diplomatic dress that does not befit him, all in an effort to exploit the law of diplomatic immunities and prevent his extradition to the United States,” the judge wrote....
"It was a really amazing adventure," said Yarzábal, now at the Catholic University of Cuenca in Ecuador....