Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is working “to destroy Venezuela’s democracy,” President Trump’s top United Nations envoy warned as Maduro’s team proceeded with an accelerated election plan.
“The Venezuelan opposition stood strong for their democracy,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said on Thursday. “The Maduro regime’s proposed agreement was not serious, and it’s clear the government never had any intention of negotiating in good faith or allowing the Venezuelan people the free and fair elections they want and deserve.”
Venezuelan election officials scheduled new presidential election for April, rather than the previously scheduled December date, after talks with opposition activists failed to produce a deal on a later date. Maduro has also banned his two strongest rivals from running in the campaign, which western officials and Maduro critics expect to be rife with fraud.
“By denying participation in the electoral process, the Maduro regime continues to dismantle Venezuela’s democracy and reveals its authoritarian rule,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday. “It is unfortunate the Maduro regime is not courageous enough to contest elections on a level playing field.”
Maduro has consolidated political power, in the face of protests over an economic crisis and food shortage, by pushing through a referendum to sideline the opposition-controlled national legislature and replace it with an assembly dominated by his allies. That referendum was followed by a decision to hold the presidential election months ahead of schedule.
“This sham proposal is just the latest example of the lengths Maduro will go to destroy Venezuela’s democracy,” Haley also said. “We will continue to support the Venezuelan people’s right to shape the destiny of their country and have their voices heard.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is working to put additional pressure on the regime by convincing neighboring countries to rely on the United States rather than Venezuela for oil and other energy resources.
“As to any future steps that the U.S. might take regarding sanctioning oil or products to put more pressure on the Maduro regime, we are going to take into full consideration the impacts on regional countries as well,” Tillerson told reporters while traveling Wednesday in Jamaica. “We’re going to undertake a very quick study to see: Are there some things that the U.S. could easily do with our rich energy endowment, with the infrastructure that we already have available – what could we do to perhaps soften any impact of that?”
In the meantime, Venezuelan opposition leaders are debating whether they should participate in the upcoming elections. “Some say participating in what they consider a sham election will merely lend legitimacy to an authoritarian government,” as Reuters noted. “But other opposition activists say they have to keep up pressure by voting, and an upset could occur given public disgust at growing national penury.”
