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Sanctions for Undermining Democratic Processes in Venezuela
In Venezuela, illegitimate President Nicolas Maduro and members of his illegitimate regime are determined to hold on to power by any means necessary. To attain their goals, they are undermining Venezuela’s democratic processes. Maduro’s plan to corrupt the parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place on December 6, is a prime example.
On July 1, the National Electoral Council announced that elections would be held on December 6. Interim President Juan Guaidó has publicly explained that the Electoral Council was illegitimate because its members were illegally selected by the Maduro-controlled Supreme Court of Justice.
Therefore, Venezuelans opposed to Maduro would not participate in the elections. In support of interim President Guaidó’s position, 37 opposition parties and 107 civil society organizations have also announced they will boycott the process, stating that participating in a Maduro-rigged election would be equivalent to “collaborating with the strategy of the dictatorship.”
In response to the united political opposition in Venezuela, the illegitimate Maduro Regime replaced the leadership of many of the main opposition parties with his own adherents, masquerading as members of the anti-Maduro coalition.
These Maduro-backed agents claimed the leadership of three of the four largest parties. In each case, the Maduro-controlled Supreme Court of Justice ruled in favor of the Maduro’s agents. The leadership of many of the opposition parties were replaced by these illegitimate regime agents. As a result, the stolen brands of these major parties, who no longer speak for their constituencies, have become corrupted and now form a fake opposition bloc.
All three of these now-zombie opposition parties have affirmed that they will take part in the December 6 parliamentary elections.
For their complicity in enabling Maduro’s scheme to rob the people of Venezuela of their right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned, under Executive Order 13692, as amended, the leaders of the puppet opposition parties. They are José Bernabé Gutiérrez Parra; his brother Miguel Antonio José Ponente Parra; Guillermo Antonio Luces Osorio; Chaim José Bucaran Paraguan; and Williams José Benavides Rondón.
“The United States,” said Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, “remains committed to holding the Maduro regime and its supporters accountable for their blatant corruption to ensure that the Venezuelan people secure the free and fair election they deserve.”
The United States stands with interim President Guaidó and Venezuela’s champions for democracy in their progress to restore a democratic Venezuela.