The State Department said Tuesday that the US approach toward Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is “not changing” and said crippling economic sanctions on the South American country will remain.
“Our approach to Nicolas Maduro is not changing. He is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Price’s comments came after Maduro said Venezuela was “ready” to work toward normalization with the US, and Venezuela’s opposition voted to dissolve the “interim government” and removed Juan Guaido as the “interim president.”
The US recognized Guaido as the “interim president” of Venezuela in 2019 after rejecting the results of the 2018 election that saw Maduro secure another term. The US also backed a failed coup against Maduro and ramped up sanctions that have done little but hurt ordinary Venezuelans.
The US also didn’t recognize the 2020 parliamentary elections, and the opposition that the US backs is part of a National Assembly that was elected in 2015 but doesn’t hold power in Venezuela anymore. Despite the realities in Caracas, the US and its allies have granted the opposition National Assembly control over Venezuela’s offshore assets.
“We continue to recognize what is the only remaining democratically elected institution in Venezuela today, and that’s the 2015 National Assembly,” Price said. When asked about sanctions, Price said, “Our overall Venezuela-related sanctions and related restrictions remain in place.”
When dissolving the interim government, Venezuela’s opposition said it would create a new body to oversee offshore assets. “I understand that members of the National Assembly are discussing amongst themselves how they will oversee these overseas assets,” Price said.
While Price insists it’s business as usual when it comes to Venezuela, the US has eased sanctions very slightly. After Maduro resumed talks with the opposition in November, the US granted a license to Chevron to resume pumping oil in Venezuela and agreed to release $3 billion in Venezuelan funds that were frozen by US and European banks. Under the deal, the funds will go toward humanitarian and economic development projects.
We are the damn bully on the block…Let us pump your oil while we stick it to you… Does anyone else find this rather dictatorial?….It’s bloody Hitleresque…
Arrogant superiority complex of the rich. Americans are attacking Russia, China and Iran. Iran works with Venezuela, which works with Cuba and has no problem with Nicaragua. The ring of enemies is long and growing.
The American public has been brainwashed into hating all the above countries, including Mexicans. Pentagoners are wise governors of the homeland and keep wages, health and education high so their happy subjects can pay enough taxes to support them and invent new ways to kill enemies.
DOD = $1.65 TRILLION last year
China should get out of Tibet,and leave Taiwan alone.Stop menacing them.
Westerners should mind their own business and get to work on their unfinished business. The World would be a lot better for it.
Maybe Hitler was Neoconesque?
I laughed out loud NMSSM.
We have become much, much worse.
The US can’t and won’t allow Socialism to spread in South or Latin America. They will fight to the last tooth and nail to prevent Socialism the fatal disease to the US system of Capitalism and its beau coup profits for the 1% to grab hold of the working class and people of color.Theyjust won’t have it and will use the Military,Police,the press and the financial markets and jails to resist any progress.
Only show me a country that is not capitalist-Russia,China,Iran,India,UK-the entire world is capitalist.
By the way,if you own more that one home-you are a capitalist. Own a small business, working farm, stock,bank accounts,pension plan-you are a CAPITALIST.
There’s a big diff between a capitalist with tools and a pickup and a capitalist opioid manufacturer that kills a hundred thousand people for the profit.
There is capitalism,which motivates people to work and create,and there is crime,perpetrated by capitalists.
Pig in the trough.
There is good capitalism,that makes people husband their funds, work hard, and invent.There is oligargic,capitalism,which sucks off the government,parasitizes, and steals.
Socialists made neoliberal capitalism possible, socialist programs are used to bail out bankrupt capitalists.
The NEW DEAL bailed out Capitalism from the Great Depression. Labor unions, socialists, and communists created the New Deal, it was their philosophy and sense of social justice that made it possible. Capitalists opposed it and from the start they worked to tear down the social programs like social security, unemployment insurance, and prevented not for profit health insurance. Later LBJ and labor fought for medi -care and medic- aid, GED and community colleges, all the successful social programs we do have is thanks to socialists and labor and communist, working people made it possible.
Reagan gave us neoliberal economics, Clinton and everyone after them continued the rapid trajectory back to the impoverishment and shrinking of the working middle class, labor is not strong enough to fight the corporate government power.
The European socialist free market societies where the most socially advanced in history, but the capitalists destroyed the working peoples power of balance and social justice.
Democracies have become one party with two names governments.
Well said Renate, well said.
There is the individual who practices capitalism which is creative,and the perverted state capitalism.When we bail out a corrupt financial institution, which I despise,we also save jobs for food service people, cleaning people,clerks, and night watchmen. However, for people with a modicum of money,they are also capitalists-A good deal of pensions funds invest in capitalism to support their retirees.
You are right, no system is pure, the question it how to make a society more fair. In advanced nations social justice is losing because their are no strong labor unions and strong left of center parties that is why the gap between the haves and have not is getting bigger. Government protects corporation not labor and claims to protect the right to work is freedom, not freedom of employers to exploit workers.
For example, sales taxes are regressive, one way to make them less regressive could be to charge a luxury tax on properties, low taxes for basic homes and more than that tax progressive like wages. We have it reversed the working middleclass is taxed higher than the really rich. Manchin stopped the taxes Biden had promised on the rich and the student loan issue is a dud too and other things. We need Medicare for all, allow the rich to get more expensive private insurance, why not ?Not perfect but better and more fair than what we have. Our government serves only the wealthy, their own income group, the DAVOS people.
The vast preponderance of Capital in a capitalist economy is held by the top 1%; the rest, for all practical purposes, are not capitalist. The socialist ideal is the worker who owns his tools & skills, and receives the full value of his labor. These latter (farmer, mechanic, small shopkeeper, …, are not capitalists. And a home is a form of consumption, not a piece of capital.
Facile.
And thank God we aren’t caving into a mighty country such as Venezuela, if we cannot stand up to them then how can we stand up to anyone else? (major sarcasm)
We are unbelievable. We are tormenting Venezuela precisely because we can get away with it. It’s a self-esteem building exercise.
One might think that Biden’s concerns about Russian interference in US elections might translate into a policy of not interfering in the elections of other countries. Maduro won. The ease with which the Trump administration denied that vote may have inspired Trump’s effort to deny the US election.
and the attempt of regime change which failed like the one in Venezuela and Nicaragua and Cuba, and Russia so far.
The people supported their elected leader, the Russians will stand with Putin too. He has an better than 80% approval rating. Biden knows it, so unconditional surrender is his option with Navalny waiting to be crowned.
Yes. I consider covert support for revolution by foreign governments to be a form of guerilla warfare. I also think that the number one reason such attempts fail is that the targeted leader or a system of government enjoys significant approval at the grass roots level.
“Our approach to Nicolas Maduro is not changing. He is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
And as punishment the “ordinary” Venezuelans will have to go without dinner tonight. Ned won’t have that problem. Maduro either. But sanctions work.
Another case of expats and a diaspora getting the U.S. involved in their home-country politics. You’d think that after 240 years we’d have developed ways to resist this. The people who founded this country warned us repeatedly
This is a sad news for Venezuelan ordinary people, but good news for resistance to US imperialism and hegemony in South America…! Venezuela should remain the resistant hub and economical polar wing for South America…!
But we must feel shame for the despicable Biden and his administration. Morally they are equals of Hitler and the Nazis.
What a crashing bore we are. If it moves, sanction it. You know, our support for Ukraine makes perfect sense. Leadership in both countries don’t give a crap what happens to the little people. They’re only interested in resources and territory.
Looks like Biden and Trump have a lot in common after all as well. Biden finally found a substitute for Viagra.
Arrogant pricks still think they have the right to determine another nations leaders.