Venezuela Crisis: Failed coup attempt by Juan Guaido; Military remains supporting Nicholas Maduro
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U.S. and Venezuela Hold Secret Talks
U.S. and Venezuela Hold Secret Talks
Powerful lieutenant of President Nicolás Maduro discussing elections in return for safety guarantees
Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro standing last month beside Diosdado Cabello, a key lieutenant who has been participating in secret talks with representatives of the U.S. PHOTO: MANAURE QUINTERO/REUTERS
By
José de Córdoba,
Juan Forero and
Vivian Salama
Aug. 21, 2019 8:41 pm ET
The Trump administration has been secretly talking with top aides of Nicolás Maduro in an effort to push Venezuela’s authoritarian president from power and clear the way for free elections in the economically devastated country, according to officials in Caracas and Washington familiar with the discussions.
The talks have involved powerful Maduro lieutenant Diosdado Cabello, who heads the country’s National Constituent Assembly and has been put under sanctions by Washington for alleged involvement in drug trafficking, and other important backers of the president in an effort to find a negotiated solution to the country’s crisis, these people said, adding the talks are at an early stage.
The U.S., which has imposed punishing sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil industry and on influential government and military figures, is pushing for democratic elections that would give opposition politicians, including Juan Guaidó, whom Washington considers Venezuela’s legitimate leader, a chance to take power.
The efforts to bring about change in Venezuela come at a critical time: More than four million people have fled the country since 2015 in an exodus that is straining the resources of neighboring countries. Inside Venezuela, hunger is growing, the economy is disintegrating and companies are closing. The U.S., human-rights groups and many ordinary Venezuelans accuse Mr. Maduro’s government of everything from carrying out extrajudicial executions to jailing and torturing political prisoners and stealing elections.
For Mr. Cabello, an essential goal is to receive assurances from the U.S. that he and others can remain in politics in Venezuela and not face sanctions if the regime loses power, according to a Venezuelan with high-level connections to both sides of the country’s political divide as well as to the U.S. government.
“What Diosdado wants is to be able to stay in Venezuela, in a peaceful way,” said the man, who met with Mr. Cabello last month and says he has U.S. support for acting as a go-between. “A principal goal of the effort is to build confidence and get international guarantees,” he added, saying that would help departing figures of the Maduro government trust that pledges for their safety would be kept by any new government.
U.S. Offers Sanction Relief for Those Against Venezuela's Maduro
Vice President Mike Pence said in May the U.S. would offer aid to Venezuelans in the form of food, supplies, and medical aid. He also announced sanctions relief for those who stand against the Maduro regime. Photo: Bloomberg
Regime figures want to avoid “retaliation, persecution, violence,” the man said. Mr. Cabello also wants his movement, known as Chavísmo after the late President Hugo Chávez, to be permitted to compete in elections, he added.
Publicly, Trump administration officials say the only matter to negotiate is the date of Mr. Maduro’s departure. People familiar with the U.S. strategy say American officials also want to use the talks to divide figures within Maduro’s regime, in an effort to weaken the president.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, President Trump confirmed U.S. officials are “talking to the representatives at different levels of Venezuela.” He wouldn’t identify them but said “we are talking at a very high level.”
That statement prompted Mr. Maduro, in a televised speech Tuesday night, to announce that discussions had, indeed, been taking place. “We’ve had secret meetings in secret places with secret people that nobody knows,” he said, adding that Venezuela would “continue having contact” with the U.S.
Neither the White House nor representatives of Mr. Maduro’s regime would elaborate.
People who know those negotiating and their strategies said the discussions are a sign of realpolitik at play, given the mutual scorn officials of the Venezuelan government and Trump administration have for each other. Mr. Cabello, a 56-year-old former army captain, heads a pro-Maduro, rubber-stamp body created to sap the opposition-led National Assembly of power.
Manuel Cristopher Figuera, who was Mr. Maduro’s intelligence chief before defecting after a failed coup earlier this year, described Mr. Cabello as a combative leader “with a cock-fighter’s mentality” and strong influence over military units. While Mr. Cabello and Mr. Maduro dislike each other, Mr. Cristopher Figuera said, Mr. Cabello has never conspired against the president as other regime officials have.
“It gives him a lot of credibility in his position,” Mr. Cristopher Figuera said. He noted that Mr. Cabello’s standing makes his participation fundamental for the success of any transitional arrangement.
The talks are taking place as other representatives of Mr. Maduro, led by Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez and his sister, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, have offered opposition negotiators the possibility of a presidential election in the coming months.
That offer, made weeks ago during separate talks in Barbados, is considered an important breakthrough since Venezuelan government officials have publicly said they wouldn’t be pressured into holding a new vote. The opposition has demanded elections because Mr. Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a vote widely seen as fraudulent, prompting the U.S. and more than 50 other governments to declare his presidency as illegitimate.
Those governments instead consider Mr. Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly, to be Venezuela’s interim president.
The talks in Barbados between the regime and its domestic opposition were recently suspended by Venezuela but are set to resume later this month. People familiar with the talks say they can’t succeed unless parallel talks advance between U.S. officials and powerful regime figures.
Privately, officials in the Trump administration say they recognize that their efforts over the last eight months to force Mr. Maduro out and replace him with Mr. Guaidó have stalled, leading them to explore Venezuela’s various power centers and the people who lead them. “The Americans understand that they have to play a role in any successful negotiation,” said a person familiar with the talks in Barbados.
In Venezuela, meanwhile, Mr. Maduro has told leaders of his ruling Socialist Party to discuss restoring power to the opposition-controlled congress, which now isn’t permitted to pass laws, according to a party leader close to the president. There was also discussion of a possible agreement with the opposition in which both would name representatives to a new electoral board and the supreme court, though the plan hasn’t been advanced.
“President Maduro is open to all, he’s open to any option,” the official said.
All sides remain divided on what they want to achieve. Right-wing leaders in the opposition don’t publicly support negotiations. Government officials, meanwhile, want their movement to be able to field a candidate in any possible future elections. Opposition negotiators want Mr. Maduro barred from participating.
“There are worries about what the government would do with its power to constrain and coerce” voters, the person familiar with the talks said. “That’s why reasonable people, even moderates, think Maduro should not be around.”
The person said the talks need to get on track fast and result in an agreement in the coming months. If they spill over into 2020, the person said, the U.S. campaign season will make it difficult for the Trump administration to be flexible and possibly make concessions.
“The clock is ticking for everyone, and they need to sort this out in the next few months, if not weeks,” the person said. “Or else it’s going to be a mess.”
—Kejal Vyas in Bogotá, Andrew Restuccia in Washington and Ginette González in Caracas contributed to this article.
U.S. and Venezuela Hold Secret Talks
Powerful lieutenant of President Nicolás Maduro discussing elections in return for safety guarantees
Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro standing last month beside Diosdado Cabello, a key lieutenant who has been participating in secret talks with representatives of the U.S. PHOTO: MANAURE QUINTERO/REUTERS
By
José de Córdoba,
Juan Forero and
Vivian Salama
Aug. 21, 2019 8:41 pm ET
The Trump administration has been secretly talking with top aides of Nicolás Maduro in an effort to push Venezuela’s authoritarian president from power and clear the way for free elections in the economically devastated country, according to officials in Caracas and Washington familiar with the discussions.
The talks have involved powerful Maduro lieutenant Diosdado Cabello, who heads the country’s National Constituent Assembly and has been put under sanctions by Washington for alleged involvement in drug trafficking, and other important backers of the president in an effort to find a negotiated solution to the country’s crisis, these people said, adding the talks are at an early stage.
The U.S., which has imposed punishing sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil industry and on influential government and military figures, is pushing for democratic elections that would give opposition politicians, including Juan Guaidó, whom Washington considers Venezuela’s legitimate leader, a chance to take power.
The efforts to bring about change in Venezuela come at a critical time: More than four million people have fled the country since 2015 in an exodus that is straining the resources of neighboring countries. Inside Venezuela, hunger is growing, the economy is disintegrating and companies are closing. The U.S., human-rights groups and many ordinary Venezuelans accuse Mr. Maduro’s government of everything from carrying out extrajudicial executions to jailing and torturing political prisoners and stealing elections.
For Mr. Cabello, an essential goal is to receive assurances from the U.S. that he and others can remain in politics in Venezuela and not face sanctions if the regime loses power, according to a Venezuelan with high-level connections to both sides of the country’s political divide as well as to the U.S. government.
“What Diosdado wants is to be able to stay in Venezuela, in a peaceful way,” said the man, who met with Mr. Cabello last month and says he has U.S. support for acting as a go-between. “A principal goal of the effort is to build confidence and get international guarantees,” he added, saying that would help departing figures of the Maduro government trust that pledges for their safety would be kept by any new government.
U.S. Offers Sanction Relief for Those Against Venezuela's Maduro
Vice President Mike Pence said in May the U.S. would offer aid to Venezuelans in the form of food, supplies, and medical aid. He also announced sanctions relief for those who stand against the Maduro regime. Photo: Bloomberg
Regime figures want to avoid “retaliation, persecution, violence,” the man said. Mr. Cabello also wants his movement, known as Chavísmo after the late President Hugo Chávez, to be permitted to compete in elections, he added.
Publicly, Trump administration officials say the only matter to negotiate is the date of Mr. Maduro’s departure. People familiar with the U.S. strategy say American officials also want to use the talks to divide figures within Maduro’s regime, in an effort to weaken the president.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, President Trump confirmed U.S. officials are “talking to the representatives at different levels of Venezuela.” He wouldn’t identify them but said “we are talking at a very high level.”
That statement prompted Mr. Maduro, in a televised speech Tuesday night, to announce that discussions had, indeed, been taking place. “We’ve had secret meetings in secret places with secret people that nobody knows,” he said, adding that Venezuela would “continue having contact” with the U.S.
Neither the White House nor representatives of Mr. Maduro’s regime would elaborate.
People who know those negotiating and their strategies said the discussions are a sign of realpolitik at play, given the mutual scorn officials of the Venezuelan government and Trump administration have for each other. Mr. Cabello, a 56-year-old former army captain, heads a pro-Maduro, rubber-stamp body created to sap the opposition-led National Assembly of power.
Manuel Cristopher Figuera, who was Mr. Maduro’s intelligence chief before defecting after a failed coup earlier this year, described Mr. Cabello as a combative leader “with a cock-fighter’s mentality” and strong influence over military units. While Mr. Cabello and Mr. Maduro dislike each other, Mr. Cristopher Figuera said, Mr. Cabello has never conspired against the president as other regime officials have.
“It gives him a lot of credibility in his position,” Mr. Cristopher Figuera said. He noted that Mr. Cabello’s standing makes his participation fundamental for the success of any transitional arrangement.
The talks are taking place as other representatives of Mr. Maduro, led by Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez and his sister, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, have offered opposition negotiators the possibility of a presidential election in the coming months.
That offer, made weeks ago during separate talks in Barbados, is considered an important breakthrough since Venezuelan government officials have publicly said they wouldn’t be pressured into holding a new vote. The opposition has demanded elections because Mr. Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a vote widely seen as fraudulent, prompting the U.S. and more than 50 other governments to declare his presidency as illegitimate.
Those governments instead consider Mr. Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly, to be Venezuela’s interim president.
The talks in Barbados between the regime and its domestic opposition were recently suspended by Venezuela but are set to resume later this month. People familiar with the talks say they can’t succeed unless parallel talks advance between U.S. officials and powerful regime figures.
Privately, officials in the Trump administration say they recognize that their efforts over the last eight months to force Mr. Maduro out and replace him with Mr. Guaidó have stalled, leading them to explore Venezuela’s various power centers and the people who lead them. “The Americans understand that they have to play a role in any successful negotiation,” said a person familiar with the talks in Barbados.
In Venezuela, meanwhile, Mr. Maduro has told leaders of his ruling Socialist Party to discuss restoring power to the opposition-controlled congress, which now isn’t permitted to pass laws, according to a party leader close to the president. There was also discussion of a possible agreement with the opposition in which both would name representatives to a new electoral board and the supreme court, though the plan hasn’t been advanced.
“President Maduro is open to all, he’s open to any option,” the official said.
All sides remain divided on what they want to achieve. Right-wing leaders in the opposition don’t publicly support negotiations. Government officials, meanwhile, want their movement to be able to field a candidate in any possible future elections. Opposition negotiators want Mr. Maduro barred from participating.
“There are worries about what the government would do with its power to constrain and coerce” voters, the person familiar with the talks said. “That’s why reasonable people, even moderates, think Maduro should not be around.”
The person said the talks need to get on track fast and result in an agreement in the coming months. If they spill over into 2020, the person said, the U.S. campaign season will make it difficult for the Trump administration to be flexible and possibly make concessions.
“The clock is ticking for everyone, and they need to sort this out in the next few months, if not weeks,” the person said. “Or else it’s going to be a mess.”
—Kejal Vyas in Bogotá, Andrew Restuccia in Washington and Ginette González in Caracas contributed to this article.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Cuba Has Hijacked Venezuela
By Julio Borges
7-9 minutes
Venezuelans are not victims of a single dictatorship, but of two.
Mr. Borges is a Venezuelan opposition leader.
Image
A mural of Fidel Castro in Caracas, Venezuela.CreditCreditCarlos Becerra/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — I was a member of the opposition coalition that participated in the talks with Nicolás Maduro’s government between 2017 and 2018. For more than a year we tried to work out a deal that would put an end to the chaos deepening in Venezuela. But no solution is viable as long as the country remains tethered to Cuba.
The communications minister and government representative in the talks, Jorge Rodríguez, reiterated Venezuela’s desire that it receive the same treatment as Cuba. This declaration laid bare the pretension of the regime: a dictatorship that is accepted and ultimately gets its way, like the one Raúl Castro inherited from his brother and passed on to Miguel Díaz-Canel.
But Cuba is more than an inspiration and a role model for the Chavismo government. The island nation has hijacked Venezuela and is effectively holding it hostage. Important government decisions are being made in Havana, not in Caracas. The Castro regime’s tentacles extend to several Venezuelan governmental institutions, including the armed forces and the offices of immigration and health services.
In a speech at the United Nations in October, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, said that at least 22,000 Cubans have infiltrated Venezuela’s government and its institutions. They have done so, he explained, holding important positions in government agencies and in the national security and intelligence services.
In the past few years Mr. Maduro’s regime has moved to consolidate power and dismantle democratic institutions. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, opposition parties won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, but Mr. Maduro stripped it of its powers. The next year, the regime illegally postponed regional elections and suspended the process of calling for a presidential referendum. In 2017, we took to the streets to protest the illegitimate sentences imposed by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice against the National Assembly, and we chose to not participate in the rigged regional elections.
Civilian demonstrations against Maduro’s dictatorship that year left at least 120 people dead, thousands wounded and hundreds imprisoned. According to Foro Penal, a prominent Venezuelan human rights organization, 911 political prisoners are being held in Venezuela. In the past year, seven attempts by the military to re-establish the Constitution and our sovereignty, today partially controlled by Cuban leadership, have been aborted. More than 100 military officers have been imprisoned.
In the mediated talks with the Maduro regime, conducted in the Dominican Republic, we sought to agree on conditions for presidential elections with democratic guarantees, but the regime refused an electoral process that reflected the will of the Venezuelan people. We declined to sign the agreement, and the talks dissolved on January 2018. For years the opposition has tried to negotiate with the regime to find a democratic solution to this mess.
Instead, Mr. Maduro pushed on with a sham presidential election on May 20, 2018, which was not recognized by Venezuelans and many of the world’s democracies. Mr. Maduro’s approach echoes the Cuban model, where a single party rules and elections aren’t competitive.
The inextricable relationship between the Castro dictatorship and the Chavista regime began 25 years ago, when Hugo Chávez visited Havana just after being released from prison. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and set in motion the collapse of the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro’s Cuba lost its great economic benefactor. Mr. Chávez’s rise to power in Venezuela a decade later allowed Mr. Castro to find a replacement. The relationship between the two countries was cemented between 2004 and 2014, when Venezuela experienced an oil windfall.
The relationship has proved lucrative for the Cuban government. Between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil are sent to Cuba daily, despite the fact that Venezuelan oil production has declined more than 60 percent in recent years. Venezuela’s economic subsidy reached its peak at about 12 percent of Cuba’s gross domestic product.
During the boom years, around 90,000 barrels of crude oil daily, representing $9 billion annually, were sent to Cuba. Some estimate that over approximately 15 years, Venezuela has subsidized $35 billion in oil to Cuba.
The country was brought further into debt when Mr. Maduro bought $440 million in foreign crude and sent it to Cuba between 2017 and 2018. The problem, therefore, is not a potential invasion of Venezuela by a foreign power; for over a decade, Cuba has been a parasite, stripping us of our resources.
But unlike Cuba, we are not an island. We have land borders, and our tragedy has spread throughout the region, adding pressure to neighboring countries. To stabilize the region and restore democracy, we must cut off the authoritarian germ rooted in Cuba and Venezuela. Democracy cannot be restored until the two regimes are decoupled.
Mr. Maduro has shown that he will not leave power of his own volition. Those of us who oppose his rule are not armed, nor do we seek to oust his regime violently. We have offered amnesty but it has been rejected. However, we will never accept the normalization of this de facto dictatorship. As long as Mr. Maduro remains in power there will be more deaths, prisoners, persecution and compatriots forced to migrate. The international community has exhausted its diplomatic arsenal because there is no precedent in Latin America for a situation similar to that of Venezuela’s. When it comes, Mr. Maduro’s exit will be equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall for the region.
It is a mistake to ask those seeking democracy in Venezuela to distance themselves from their United States and Latin American allies at this juncture. They represent the only opportunity to counterbalance a regime with unlimited power and no institutional oversight, that is armed and willing to exercise violence. Democratic countries must direct pressure toward Havana as well to bring about change in Venezuela.
The call of the National Assembly and the country’s acting president, Juan Guaidó, for Venezuela to stop sending oil to Cuba is a first step. Companies trading with Venezuelan oil must comply if they want to avoid secondary sanctions derived from those already imposed against our state-owned oil and gas company, P.D.V.S.A., by the United States. For its part, the Lima Group must ensure that previously agreed-upon investigations into corruption and human rights violations are carried out, which could involve citizens of its countries, as well as Venezuelans and Cubans.
Finally, the international left wing must understand that Venezuelans are not victims of a single dictatorship, but of two: Mr. Maduro’s and Cuba’s. They must withdraw their solidarity and support for Nicolás Maduro.
Julio Borges was president of the National Assembly of Venezuela and is Juan Guaidó’s ambassador to the Lima Group. This article was translated from the Spanish by Erin Goodman.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
Opinion | Cuba Has Hijacked Venezuela
By Julio Borges
7-9 minutes
Venezuelans are not victims of a single dictatorship, but of two.
Mr. Borges is a Venezuelan opposition leader.
- April 10, 2019
Image
A mural of Fidel Castro in Caracas, Venezuela.CreditCreditCarlos Becerra/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — I was a member of the opposition coalition that participated in the talks with Nicolás Maduro’s government between 2017 and 2018. For more than a year we tried to work out a deal that would put an end to the chaos deepening in Venezuela. But no solution is viable as long as the country remains tethered to Cuba.
The communications minister and government representative in the talks, Jorge Rodríguez, reiterated Venezuela’s desire that it receive the same treatment as Cuba. This declaration laid bare the pretension of the regime: a dictatorship that is accepted and ultimately gets its way, like the one Raúl Castro inherited from his brother and passed on to Miguel Díaz-Canel.
But Cuba is more than an inspiration and a role model for the Chavismo government. The island nation has hijacked Venezuela and is effectively holding it hostage. Important government decisions are being made in Havana, not in Caracas. The Castro regime’s tentacles extend to several Venezuelan governmental institutions, including the armed forces and the offices of immigration and health services.
In a speech at the United Nations in October, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, said that at least 22,000 Cubans have infiltrated Venezuela’s government and its institutions. They have done so, he explained, holding important positions in government agencies and in the national security and intelligence services.
In the past few years Mr. Maduro’s regime has moved to consolidate power and dismantle democratic institutions. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, opposition parties won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, but Mr. Maduro stripped it of its powers. The next year, the regime illegally postponed regional elections and suspended the process of calling for a presidential referendum. In 2017, we took to the streets to protest the illegitimate sentences imposed by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice against the National Assembly, and we chose to not participate in the rigged regional elections.
Civilian demonstrations against Maduro’s dictatorship that year left at least 120 people dead, thousands wounded and hundreds imprisoned. According to Foro Penal, a prominent Venezuelan human rights organization, 911 political prisoners are being held in Venezuela. In the past year, seven attempts by the military to re-establish the Constitution and our sovereignty, today partially controlled by Cuban leadership, have been aborted. More than 100 military officers have been imprisoned.
In the mediated talks with the Maduro regime, conducted in the Dominican Republic, we sought to agree on conditions for presidential elections with democratic guarantees, but the regime refused an electoral process that reflected the will of the Venezuelan people. We declined to sign the agreement, and the talks dissolved on January 2018. For years the opposition has tried to negotiate with the regime to find a democratic solution to this mess.
Instead, Mr. Maduro pushed on with a sham presidential election on May 20, 2018, which was not recognized by Venezuelans and many of the world’s democracies. Mr. Maduro’s approach echoes the Cuban model, where a single party rules and elections aren’t competitive.
The inextricable relationship between the Castro dictatorship and the Chavista regime began 25 years ago, when Hugo Chávez visited Havana just after being released from prison. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and set in motion the collapse of the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro’s Cuba lost its great economic benefactor. Mr. Chávez’s rise to power in Venezuela a decade later allowed Mr. Castro to find a replacement. The relationship between the two countries was cemented between 2004 and 2014, when Venezuela experienced an oil windfall.
The relationship has proved lucrative for the Cuban government. Between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil are sent to Cuba daily, despite the fact that Venezuelan oil production has declined more than 60 percent in recent years. Venezuela’s economic subsidy reached its peak at about 12 percent of Cuba’s gross domestic product.
During the boom years, around 90,000 barrels of crude oil daily, representing $9 billion annually, were sent to Cuba. Some estimate that over approximately 15 years, Venezuela has subsidized $35 billion in oil to Cuba.
The country was brought further into debt when Mr. Maduro bought $440 million in foreign crude and sent it to Cuba between 2017 and 2018. The problem, therefore, is not a potential invasion of Venezuela by a foreign power; for over a decade, Cuba has been a parasite, stripping us of our resources.
But unlike Cuba, we are not an island. We have land borders, and our tragedy has spread throughout the region, adding pressure to neighboring countries. To stabilize the region and restore democracy, we must cut off the authoritarian germ rooted in Cuba and Venezuela. Democracy cannot be restored until the two regimes are decoupled.
Mr. Maduro has shown that he will not leave power of his own volition. Those of us who oppose his rule are not armed, nor do we seek to oust his regime violently. We have offered amnesty but it has been rejected. However, we will never accept the normalization of this de facto dictatorship. As long as Mr. Maduro remains in power there will be more deaths, prisoners, persecution and compatriots forced to migrate. The international community has exhausted its diplomatic arsenal because there is no precedent in Latin America for a situation similar to that of Venezuela’s. When it comes, Mr. Maduro’s exit will be equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall for the region.
It is a mistake to ask those seeking democracy in Venezuela to distance themselves from their United States and Latin American allies at this juncture. They represent the only opportunity to counterbalance a regime with unlimited power and no institutional oversight, that is armed and willing to exercise violence. Democratic countries must direct pressure toward Havana as well to bring about change in Venezuela.
The call of the National Assembly and the country’s acting president, Juan Guaidó, for Venezuela to stop sending oil to Cuba is a first step. Companies trading with Venezuelan oil must comply if they want to avoid secondary sanctions derived from those already imposed against our state-owned oil and gas company, P.D.V.S.A., by the United States. For its part, the Lima Group must ensure that previously agreed-upon investigations into corruption and human rights violations are carried out, which could involve citizens of its countries, as well as Venezuelans and Cubans.
Finally, the international left wing must understand that Venezuelans are not victims of a single dictatorship, but of two: Mr. Maduro’s and Cuba’s. They must withdraw their solidarity and support for Nicolás Maduro.
Julio Borges was president of the National Assembly of Venezuela and is Juan Guaidó’s ambassador to the Lima Group. This article was translated from the Spanish by Erin Goodman.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
Tres Leches
Empire Business
Cuba hanging on for dear life , they’re finished without Venezuela oil maybe they’ll go beg Mexico 
afterlife2009
Superstar
Cuba hanging on for dear life , they’re finished without Venezuela oil maybe they’ll go beg Mexico
Cuba and beg dont belong in the same sentence. Check yourself
raises a good question...who will support cuba in the event VZLA fails?Cuba hanging on for dear life , they’re finished without Venezuela oil maybe they’ll go beg Mexico
Iran/Hezbollah?
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
@śïñe•qúå_nøn new season start yet?
Also sounds Like Maduro is trying to kick something off with Colombia
Also sounds Like Maduro is trying to kick something off with Colombia
11/1/19
