In Venezuela shift, US asks both Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaido to step aside
- To break political stalemate, Washington calls for transitional government to take power and set up new elections
- This could in turn pave way for US to drop all sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says
The US called on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido to step aside and allow a transitional government to take power and set up new elections, a shift in strategy aimed at breaking a political stalemate in the country.
With previous US efforts to oust Maduro stalled, the Trump administration’s special representative to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that credible elections after the transitional government took power could pave the way for the US to drop all sanctions.
Abrams and Pompeo both said their support for Guaido remains undiminished.
Pompeo called him Venezuela’s most popular politician, and Abrams said Guaido remains the country’s “legitimate interim president” and would probably win elections if they take place some nine to 12 months from now. But he said that for the sake of the transitional government’s legitimacy, Guaido should not be part of it.
“We want Guaido to be free to run for president,” Abrams told reporters. “Under our plan, he is, and according to the polls I’ve seen, he’s very likely to win.”