Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s political followers will be allowed to run for office in elections that follow an eventual fall of the regime, a top U.S. diplomat pledged Thursday.
“We believe the Maduro regime must come to an end for Venezuela to recover democracy and prosperity, but like all of the country’s citizens, PSUV is entitled to a role in rebuilding Venezuela,” U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said in a direct appeal to Maduro’s political party. “You in the PSUV are entitled to run in free elections and try to convince your fellow citizens of the value of your policy.”
Abrams’ message was an apparent attempt to undermine Maduro’s support within his own political party by appealing to the true believers of the socialist movement founded by the late President Hugo Chávez. More than an invocation of their principles, Abrams moved to diminish the incentive to remain loyal to a leader who has defied President Trump.
“If you want Chavismo to be part of your country’s future, and not just its past, it cannot be imposed by force,” he said at the Atlantic Council. “When the PSUV accepts that it must act solely as a democratic political party, and seek the votes of citizens in free elections, solely through argument and debate, Venezuela will be well on the way to democracy.”
Abrams has served as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s point man for the Venezuela crisis since January, shortly after Trump and other democratic powers recognized top opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó as the legitimate interim president of the country.
Maduro has retained power despite intensifying international pressure and an economic crisis that has produced food shortages and sustained power outages. Russian and Cuban support has helped him maintain control over the Venezuelan military, while gangs of colectivos have blocked the U.S. delivery of international aid and cracked down on pro-Guaidó protesters.
“I am stronger than ever,” Maduro declared in February, after the aid blockade. “Why am I here? Because you are the ones who decide, not Donald Trump.”
Maduro’s supporters have pointed to Abrams — one of the State Department officials who coordinated interventions against socialist groups that overthrew Latin American governments in the 1980s — to buttress arguments that Trump’s opposition to Maduro is a new example of U.S. imperialism. But Abrams invoked that experience to assure the pro-Maduro political party that they will have a role in a future Venezuelan government. He emphasized that the United States did not object when the FMLN, one of the groups he opposed under Ronald Reagan, came to power in El Salvador by peaceful means.
“The United States respected and accepted that outcome and indeed continued our foreign aid,” he said. “The American reaction has been to say if you win a free election, congratulations.”
[Related: Trump’s sanctions could knock out Venezuela oil production indefinitely]
