On January 30th, US President Donald Trump spoke with US-Proclaimed Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaido, congratulating him on his “historic assumption of the presidency,” and to reinforce the US position in the matter.
Spoke today with Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaido to congratulate him on his historic assumption of the presidency and reinforced strong United States support for Venezuela’s fight to regain its democracy….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders also confirmed the phone call, saying that the POTUS spoke with Guiado “to reinforce President Trump’s strong support for Venezuela’s fight to regain its democracy.”
On the same day, after wild speculations of a Russian passenger jet landing in Venezuela to remove 20 tons of gold from the country, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton warned “bankers, brokers, traders, facilitators, and other businesses,” not to deal in gold, oil or other Venezuelan commodities on Twitter.
My advice to bankers, brokers, traders, facilitators, and other businesses: don’t deal in gold, oil, or other Venezuelan commodities being stolen from the Venezuelan people by the Maduro mafia. We stand ready to continue to take action.
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) January 30, 2019
The United States is continuing to work to make sure that the economic benefits of Venezuela’s resources are not pilfered by Maduro and his cronies. Very productive meeting this afternoon with members of the CITGO executive team. pic.twitter.com/GBPX1s1drN
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) January 30, 2019
The White House published a readout of Vice President Mike Pence’s meeting with with Ambassador Carlos Vecchio, Ambassador Julio Borges, and Venezuelan Leaders.
“Vice President Pence met today with Carlos Vecchio, Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States, Julio Borges, Ambassador of Venezuela to the Lima Group, and other Venezuelan officials to express the strong support of the United States for the Venezuelan National Assembly and the government of President Juan Guaido. The Vice President congratulated both Ambassadors on their confirmations by the National Assembly earlier today, and firmly emphasized the long-standing goal of the United States to restore democracy to Venezuela through free and fair elections. The Vice President also discussed recent sanctions actions, highlighting that these deprive Maduro and his cronies access to corrupt income, and to preserve the country’s wealth for the people of Venezuela,” the publication read.
In an opinion piece, published by the NYT, Juan Guaido said that the Venezuelan opposition had conducted secret meetings with the military.
“The transition will require support from key military contingents. We have had clandestine meetings with members of the armed forces and the security forces,” Guaido said. “The military’s withdrawal of support from Mr. (President Nicolas) Maduro is crucial to enabling a change in government.”
To provide the point of view of the Venezuelan people, Gray Zone Project published the results of a survey carried out in the country by the local firm Hinterlaces. The study took place between January 7th and 20th. The results were published on January 27th.
“Hinterlaces is led by the independent pollster Oscar Schemel, who has experience studying numerous elections in Venezuela and has a pro-business perspective. Most polling firms in the country, such as the competitor Datanálisis, tend to be pro-opposition. Hinterlaces is more neutral, and often leans toward the government, although Schemel has criticized some of Maduro’s economic policies,” Gray Zone Project reported.
The results showed that more than 80% of Venezuelans oppose international intervention, both military and non-military, in their country, as well as the crippling sanctions imposed by the United States to force leftist President Nicolás Maduro out of power.
The majority of those surveyed did approve the possibility of dialogue between the government and the opposition.