guaido2 bak juan vnz
220 see main
sotu 2020
==
oddly does not connect dots on sanctions?
no lnx
The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido have reached an agreement to cooperate to raise funds for the fight against the coronavirus.
The one-page agreement was signed on June 1 between Health Minister Carlos Alvarado, Dr Julio Castro, who leads the National Assembly's commission on the coronavirus, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday.
[Venezuela confirms two coronavirus cases, suspends schools
Venezuela, already in crisis mode, struggles to fight coronavirus
Fear as coronavirus closes border with Venezuela over coronavirus]
The parties will seek funds to cover a range of responses from improving testing, acquiring more protective gear and launching public health messaging campaigns, among others, Rodriguez added.
"COVID-19 does not respect or discriminate against gender, orientation or political party," Rodriguez said on state television on Tuesday night. "So this is good news, a good start, so that we can deepen our work together to combat COVID-19."
Guaido's communications team also said a "technical cooperation plan to deal with the humanitarian coronavirus crisis" was signed.
Translation: After months of insistence and struggle, we [finally] managed to get PAHO to receive the donations approved by the National Assembly to address the pandemic in Venezuela. Our policy is focused on saving lives, attending to the emergency and getting out of the dictatorship.
The two sides have so far not confirmed the details of the plan.
In a statement, however, Guaido's team said PAHO would receive the funds approved for humanitarian aid.
Separately, Washington welcomed the coronavirus agreement.
"It is an important step, but only democratic transition will save Venezuela from catastrophe," the closed US embassy in Caracasposted on Twitter.
Translation: Interim Government of @JGuaido signed an agreement with PAHO for a coordinated association with the regime to combat #COVID19, prioritising urgent medical care needs for Venezuelans. It is an important step, but only democratic transition will save Venezuela from catastrophe.
The White House has imposed financial sanctions on the country to press for Maduro's departure.
Venezuela officially has 1,819 reported COVID-19 cases and 18 related deaths but international organisations such as Human Rights Watch believe this is an underestimate and the real toll is much higher.
The pandemic hit Venezuela when the country was already reeling from a serious economic crisis, hyperinflation and a collapse of public services.
The country has the largest oil reserves in the world, but its production is in freefall, a collapse that experts attribute to failed policies, lack of investment, and corruption.
The economic meltdown has seen about five million Venezuelans flee the country since 2015, according to the United Nations.
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yyy.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/23/venezuela-opposition-in-davos-plea-for-help-to-overturn-dictatorship-juan-guaido
venezuela's Guaidó in Davos plea for help to overturn 'dictatorship'
Juan Guaidó says country facing refugee crisis on a par with Syria as millions flee
Sam Jones
@swajones
Thu 23 Jan 2020 09.37 ESTLast modified on Thu 23 Jan 2020 10.01 EST
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó.
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, has urged the world not to turn its back on his struggling country and the millions of people who have fled across its borders to escape poverty and political turbulence.
Addressing the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Guaidó said the international community had a duty to help those suffering in Venezuela and those trying to leave.
“I am here today to ensure that none of you leaves Venezuela on the outside,” he said. “Your countries, together with mine, can make a better difference. It’s a future that Venezuelans don’t have at the moment, that Venezuelan mothers don’t have as they walk from Caracas to Lima – which is like walking from Madrid to Helsinki – because they are hungry and desperate and want to be able to give birth with dignity.”
A year on, Juan Guaidó’s attempt at regime change in Venezuela has stalled
Tony Wood
Read more
While Venezuelans had the will to end the authoritarian rule of the president, Nicolás Maduro, they could not do so alone, he said.
Guaidó, who was sworn in for a second term as the head of Venezuela’s national assembly amid chaotic scenes this month, said his country was facing a refugee crisis on a par with that of Syria.
“There are 5.5 million Venezuelan refugees who are looking for the opportunities they’ve been denied by the regime,” he said. “Teachers and nurses are now earning $3.50 a month – not a week, not per day, $3.50 a month. But despite all that, they get up every day to teach our kids and to protest peacefully for their right for the Venezuela of the future … The only country that has expelled more of its citizens than Venezuela is Syria, but we’ll overtake Syria this year if the dictatorship continues.”
While Venezuela was not at war and no bombs were falling, he said, “we still hear cries and pain of those mothers who are far from their children. There are a million children in Venezuela whose parents have moved to other countries to try to earn the money to support them.”
On Wednesday Guaidó called for the EU to use more sanctions to ramp up the pressure on Maduro’s government. “Dictatorships and dictators need to know that there are sanctions, that there is a responsibility and that they can’t laugh at the world,” he told the Associated Press.
On Thursday he told reporters at Davos that while broadening sanctions was controversial, they were needed to bring about free, fair and transparent elections. “The worst sanction facing Venezuela is the dictatorship,” he said.
Q&A
Why is Venezuela in such a bad way?]
After Guaidó’s meeting on Wednesday with the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, the European foreign affairs office issued a statement saying the bloc was committed “to supporting a genuine process toward a peaceful and democratic resolution of the crisis, based on credible and transparent presidential and legislative elections”.
Guaidó defied a travel ban to visit Europe this week in an effort to regain some of the momentum lost since he used his position as national assembly president to declare himself Venezuela’s rightful interim leader last year.
This was recognised by around 60 countries, but his efforts to oust Maduro have been thwarted repeatedly. A botched coup fizzled out in May and Guaidó and his supporters had to force their way into parliament two weeks ago to reinstall him as leader.
Guaidó met Boris Johnson on Tuesday. He is not due to meet Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on his European visit and will instead hold talks with Spain’s foreign minister.
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The move has been seen as proof of the influence of Sánchez’s coalition partners, the far-left, anti-austerity Unidas Podemos alliance. Its leader, Pablo Iglesias, now a deputy prime minister, once criticised the Spanish government for backing Guaidó, whom he accused of seeking to stage a US-backed coup and a bring about “bloodbath” in Venezuela.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
nyt
Guaidó, Promising Change for Venezuela, Fails to Conquer Davos
A year after he declared himself president, the opposition leader cut an embattled figure at the World Economic Forum.
The Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó at the World Economic Forum on Thursday in Davos, Switzerland.
By Mark Landler
Jan. 23, 2020
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DAVOS, Switzerland — This time last year, Juan Guaidó would have been the toast of Davos. Mr. Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader, had just led a wave of popular unrest to win the presidency of Venezuela’s National Assembly and declared himself the true leader of his crisis-ridden country.
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But as Mr. Guaidó made the rounds at this year’s gathering of political and business figures — having come to Europe in defiance of a travel ban at home — he seemed like a man whose moment had passed.
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With Venezuela’s repressive president, Nicolás Maduro, still firmly entrenched in power, and with Mr. Guaidó’s most prominent backer, President Trump, distracted by his Senate trial and his re-election campaign, the embattled Venezuelan spent most of his time answering questions about why he had not succeeded in toppling Mr. Maduro.
“We underestimated the ability of the regime to do bad,” Mr. Guaidó told a half-filled hall where, two days earlier, Mr. Trump had spoken to a standing-room-only crowd. “We are really climbing a mountain at the moment.”
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Mr. Guaidó insisted that he and his supporters would still uproot the Maduro government. He urged European leaders to crack down on Venezuela’s gold trade, which he said had helped consolidate Mr. Maduro’s control by providing a means of foreign exchange and helping to secure the loyalty of the military.
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But Mr. Guaidó struggled to offer fresh ideas for how governments could tighten the pressure on Mr. Maduro. Venezuela is already under heavy sanctions, which have so far failed to dislodge him. In an election year, the United States is less likely than ever to consider more aggressive options, like military intervention.
In Washington, the most vocal proponent of Mr. Guaidó — the former national security adviser John R. Bolton — has left the administration. Mr. Trump did not mention Venezuela during his speech in Davos; he left the Alpine ski resort on Wednesday without seeing Mr. Guaidó.
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That left the Venezuelan with a lineup of meetings that included the leaders of Austria, Greece and the Netherlands, as well as a session with a Davos regular, Tony Blair, the former British prime minister. On Tuesday, Mr. Guaidó met in London with Britain’s current prime minister, Boris Johnson.
“The idea behind all these meetings is the same,” Mr. Guaidó said to journalists, speaking through a translator. “People should stop seeing Venezuela as an insoluble problem.”
But then he likened Venezuela to Syria, Yemen, and South Sudan — three war-torn states that are often viewed as insoluble problems.
Although Venezuela is not in a state of war, Mr. Guaidó noted that millions of people had fled the country in search of food or medical care. Those who remain behind are in grinding poverty, living on wages of as little as $3.50 a month, even for nurses and other professionals. The government has turned up its repression, jailing and torturing members of the opposition.
Mr. Guaidó himself took a big risk in leaving the country. He declined to describe how he evaded security forces, except to say that they were not particularly efficient, and his team managed to distract them. Still, Mr. Guaidó faces the possibility of harsh reprisals when he returns home.
“Going back to Venezuela will not be easy,” he said. “I do hope I can get home safe and sound.”[met by protestors?]
Just before flying to Europe, Mr. Guaidó met Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Bogotá, Colombia.The United States is one of more than 50 countries that recognizes Mr. Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Mr. Pompeo insisted the administration had not retreated in its determination to see Mr. Maduro ousted, and expressed hope that it could still happen.
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“I’ve heard this idea that we’ve underestimated Maduro,” Mr. Pompeo said to reporters. “What’s been underestimated is the desire for freedom that rests in the hearts of the Venezuelan people.”
American officials said Mr. Guaidó’s visit to Davos was valuable because it would put a human face on the struggle in Venezuela. Despite making headlines over the past year, Mr. Guaidó, 36, remains something of an abstraction to people outside Latin America, according to a senior official. By telling his own story, this person said, Mr. Guaidó could still mobilize support among the Europeans, who would be critical in imposing effective sanctions and halting the gold trade.
As Mr. Guaidó analyzed his problems over the last year, he pointed to an offer made by the opposition of amnesty to members of the military who would agree to turn against the Maduro government. The offer did not peel away senior officers, in part because Mr. Maduro gave them access to lucrative gold mines. They have remained a bulwark of support for him.
“We tried to do this, but it sort of rebounded on us,” Mr. Guaidó said. “It is really the top brass of the military that are behind him.”
www.nytimes.com › world › europe › guaido-venezuela-davos
Guaidó, Promising Change for Venezuela, Fails to Conquer ...
Jan 23, 2020 - DAVOS, Switzerland — This time last year, Juan Guaidó would have been the toast of Davos. Mr. Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader, ...
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https://www.vox.com/2020/2/4/21123557/state-of-the-union-2020-trump-socialism-venezuela-guaido
trump vilified socialism in his State of the Union, using Venezuela as his foil
Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s opposition leader, attended the speech as Trump’s guest.
By :{Jen Kirby:(style="box-sizing:border-box;vertical-align:inherit;font-style:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px"):}:jen.kirby@vox.com Updated Feb 5, 2020, 10:49am EST
:{:{
}:}:[pix 1 Juan Guaidó waves as he is acknowledged by President Trump during his State of the Union address on February 4, 2020. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó appeared as a guest at the State of the Union on Tuesday, with President Donald Trump touting him as the “true and legitimate president of Venezuela.”
Trump’s move was likely intended to boost Guaidó on the international stage, as the Venezuelan politician’s attempts to oust President Nicolás Maduro from power havecontinued to flounder.
Last January, Guaidó declared himself the rightful leader of Venezuela, and the United States and many other Western allies, including Canada and the European Union, endorsed him. But after a failed coup in April,declining support among Venezuelans, and reports of corruption scandals within the opposition he leads, US support for his efforts has waned.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s political and economic crises persist, and have morphed into a humanitarian catastrophe as millions have fled to neighboring countries. It is on the verge of becoming the world’s largest refugee crisis, surpassing Syria.
Guaidó, though, is trying to reinvigorate support for his campaign against Maduro, and just embarked on a world tourto boost those alliances. He’s reportedly been eager to get much-needed facetime with Trump — and, in the end, managed to snag a State of the Union invite instead. On Wednesday, the White House announced that the president would also meet with Guaidó.
Guaidó was greeted with enthusiastic applause during the State of the Union, but this renewed attention by Trump, so far, looks unlikely to alter the political stalemate in Venezuela.
:{:{
}:}:Juan Guaidó pumps his fist as he is acknowledged during the State of the Union address. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
But it certainly gave Trump an opportunity to boast about his foreign policy, and to once again use Venezuela’s crisis to decry the dangers of socialism. It’s a tactic he’s used before, in an attempt to denigrate his 2020 Democratic opponents.
“As we restore American leadership throughout the world, we are once again standing up for freedom in our hemisphere,” Trump boasted, citing the administration’s policies against Cuba (reversing Obama-era opening), Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
On Venezuela, Trump said that Maduro is “an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people. But Maduro’s grip of tyranny will be smashed and broken.”
Guaidó, Trump said, was the man who would do so. “Mr. President, please take this message back to your homeland,” Trump told Guaidó as he stood in the gallery. “Americans are united with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom! Socialism destroys nations. But always remember, freedom unifies the soul.”
Trump has repeatedly used Maduro has a foil to rail against socialism, in an attempt, as Vox’s Alex Ward put it, “to scare Republican voters in Florida and elsewhere that the Democrats are a bunch of socialists that could soon turn American into a Venezuela-like hellscape.”
Trump wasn’t that explicit in his State of the Union, but the subtext was there. And though he painted Guaidó as the antidote, he did forget to mention that Guaidó is himself a socialist and his leadership of Venezuela has been backed by the Council of the Socialist International. They, too, have rejected Maduro.
The United States has imposed tough sanctions on Maduro and his allies; so far, though, Maduro remains entrenched. And one area the United States could help Venezuelans in — as Trump put it, “their righteous struggle for freedom!” — would be to help the thousands of Venezuelans who are fleeing the precarious conditions in the country.
Lawmakers, including prominent Republicans, have called on the Trump administration to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Venezuelans fleeing Maduro’s regime. So far, the Trump administration hasn’t taken action.
ref 1
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-analysis/disappointed-venezuelans-lose-patience-with-guaido-as-maduro-hangs-on-idUSKCN1TW3ME
ref 2
The Americas
Juan Guaidó promised to save Venezuela. Now the flame he lit is petering out, and his U.S. backers are weighing their options.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó speaks to a crowd of some 250 supporters in eastern Caracas this month. Earlier this year, Guaidó commanded masses to the streets to demonstrate against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. He’s now struggling to hold the movement together. (Andrea Hernández Briceño/For The Washington Post)
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó speaks to a crowd of some 250 supporters in eastern Caracas this month. Earlier this year, Guaidó commanded masses to the streets to demonstrate against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. He’s now struggling to hold the movement together. (Andrea Hernández Briceño/For The Washington Post)
By
Anthony Faiola
Dec. 17, 2019
CARACAS, Venezuela — It was sunset in the Venezuelan capital, and Juan Guaidó, the 36-year-old industrial engineer anointed earlier this year as the would-be savior of a troubled nation, leaped out of his unmarked Ford Explorer and into a middle-class neighborhood of mid-rise apartments.
“Viva Guaidó!” exclaimed one of the most fervent among the 250 or so neighbors who had ventured out to hear him speak. It was a far cry from the mass marches he commanded earlier in the year. Vegetable vendors at a nearby market, unmoved, continued to hawk their wilted remainders. Some in the crowd tried to stir a chorus of Guaidó’s trademark (if borrowed) slogan: “¡Sí, se puede!” “Yes, we can!”...
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4 days ago - The invite to the State of the Union gives Guaidó, the Venezuelan National Assembly ... “Excited to see [Juan Guaidó] tonight at the #SOTU!