The United States welcomes the agreement reached by Venezuela’s democratically elected 2015 National Assembly to extend its mandate for one year, with Juan Guaidó as its interim president. The United States continues to recognize the authority of the 2015 National Assembly as Venezuela’s last remaining democratic institution.
The Nicolás Maduro regime’s pattern of political repression, rampant human rights abuses, as well as severe restrictions on political and civil society actors and freedom of expression have robbed the Venezuelan people of democratic self-determination. “We support the efforts. . .to establish democratic order and rule of law in Venezuela,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a statement.
“We call on Nicolás Maduro to reengage in the negotiations in Mexico, and to do so in good faith for the benefit of the Venezuelan people,” added Mr. Price. “We will continue to work with a broad range of Venezuelan and international partners using all appropriate diplomatic and economic tools to press for the release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons, the independence of political parties, respect for freedom of expression and other universal human rights, and an end to human rights abuses.” In addition, the U.S. will continue to work with members of the international community to press for conditions conducive to free and fair elections in Venezuela.
The United States also supports efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people and bring the humanitarian crises in Venezuela to an end. Since 2017, the United States has provided more than $1.9 billion in humanitarian, economic, development, and health assistance to help Venezuelans both inside Venezuela and those forced to flee throughout the region.
The United States will remain a strong advocate for the Venezuelan people as they work toward a peaceful restoration of democracy through free and fair elections.
