Opposition will reportedly look for another candidate to face Nicolas Maduro at the election, as Juan Guaido failed to remove him
The Venezuelan opposition is considering withdrawing its support for Juan Guaido, the US-backed interim president of the country, in 2023, according to the reports. If that happens, the future of Caracas’ billions in overseas holdings, now controlled by Guaido’s interim government, would once-again be uncertain.
Venezuela has had a ‘dual-presidency’ since 2019, Guaido’s international backers, including the US, refused to recognize Nicolas Maduro as the country’s president after elections in 2018. However, despite the political challenge to him from Guaido, and the heavy sanctions introduced on his ‘regime’ by the West, Maduro has remained in power and is still considered the country’s legitimate president by several nations, including Russia, Iran and China.
According to Reuters’ sources, the opposition parties want to focus on choosing a single candidate to stand against Maduro in the next election, set to be held by 2024. Primaries to select a candidate are set for June 2023.
According to Reuters, five of six opposition parties will not support Guaido or any other acting leader, with only his own Voluntad Popular party prepared to continue supporting the Guaido and his interim government.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s source, Venezuela’s opposition “is getting very close to that consensus that the interim government experiment didn’t work and that a new structure is needed.”
Meanwhile, a person close to Guaido, quoted by the Reuters, said that the interim president would be prepared to step aside but only when the opposition sets out its plans for the multi-billion state assets held abroad. These include US-based oil refiner Citgo Petroleum and more than $1 billion in gold at the Bank of England.
The assets came under Guaido’s control after the US and its allies recognized the head of the National Assembly as an interim leader of the country.
Publicly, Guaido, whose term expires in January, has been insisting that the interim presidency is valid until “a free and fair election.”
The US State Department in a statement quoted by Reuters said that the US has been discussing with Guaido’s administration the further steps necessary for “restoration of democracy” in Venezuela.
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