U.S. offers to lift Venezuela sanctions for power-sharing deal
By Darryl Coote
Hundreds of Venezuelans take to the streets in Caracas on May 1, a day after members of the opposition clashed with government forces. File Photo by Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA-EFE
April 1 (UPI) -- The Trump administration has offered to lift sanctions from Venezuela if the opposition party and President Nicolas Maduro's socialist party create an interim transitional government with the aim of holding a free and fair presidential election in less than a year.
The State Department unveiled the 13-point plan Tuesday after more than a year of attempting to strong-arm Maduro from power with escalating sanctions imposed against him, his government and those the Trump administration accuses of keeping him at the country's helm.
Under the plan, Maduro would relinquish his hold as leader of the country to the interim government, which will consist of two people elected from Juan Guaido's opposition party, two people elected from Maduro's socialist party and a fifth member chosen by the four elected officials to act as interim president. That person, then, will be barred from running for president.
If the conditions of the framework are met -- specifically that a council of state is in place and is governing and foreign security forces have left the South American nation -- then the United States will suspend sanctions on the government and its oil sector. Those sanctions would then be revoked once elections are held and observers deem them to be free and fair.
Sanctions imposed against individual officials would be lifted once they step down. The plan also consists of establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate "serious acts of violence" that have occurred since 1999, when former socialist President Victor Chavez began his rule, which ended in 2013 with his death.
"The basic outline is simple: We call for a transitional government that would govern for nine to 12 months and hold free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections," U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams told reporters Tuesday. "The United States will recognize the result of a free and fair election no matter which party wins."
Venezuela flat out rejected the framework late Tuesday, describing it as unconstitutional and in disregard of "the democratic will expressed by the Venezuelan people at the polls."
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"The U.S. pseudo-proposal confirms that the officials of that country completely ignore Venezuela's legal framework and how its institutions work," the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The Trump administration began its maximum pressure campaign against the Maduro regime after his 2018 election was deemed illegitimate, backing instead opposition leader Guaido who appointed himself interim president. Since then, more than 55 mostly Western countries have supported Guaido's claim to the interim presidency.
Abrams said the framework proposal follows suggestions made by Guaido and his team last year and which he repeated over the weekend.
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What has changed since the proposal was first floated is that the regime is worse off, he said, adding the cost of its main export, oil, has not only dropped but the country is producing nearly half as many barrels at under 500,000 a day.
"The income the regime is getting from the one thing it has to sell, which is oil, has dropped precipitously," he said. "So, we think there's a lot more pressure on the regime."
In a statement, Guaido said it is not only the United States but other nations that support this framework.
"The correct steps are being taken to save Venezuela," he said, calling on Maduro to "assume his responsibility and accept the offer made by the international community."
The State Department's offer comes on the heels of the Justice Department charging Maduro and members of his cadre with drug trafficking, which the embattled leader rejected out of hand.
Venezuela's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the framework offer and the charges are evidence the United States has lost direction with its foreign policy toward the South American country.
"The Trump administration's actions during recent days against Venezuela cannot be labeled in any other way: They are miserable," the Foreign Ministry said.
When asked if the indictments will force Maduro to cling ever more tightly to power, Abrams responded that the indictments are not a matter of policy as sanctions are but the plan was built less to address Maduro and more to appeal to the Venezuelan public.
"By leaving power, Maduro loses a great dal," Abrams said. "It's obvious that Maduro is going to resist any plan that calls for him to leave power, but the framework that we've proposed, we think, protects the legitimate rights of the Chavista party to contest elections and to be treated absolutely fairly in a transitional government."
In Venezuela shift, US offers sanctions relief for transitional government
AFP/File / Federico ParraVenezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido addresses supporters during a March 10, 2020 demonstration in Caracas
The United States on Tuesday offered a path for Venezuela's leftist leadership to remove sanctions in the face of a mounting humanitarian crisis by accepting a transitional government that excludes US ally Juan Guaido.
The tactical shift came after more than a year of faltering US-led efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro and as fears grow that the coronavirus pandemic will spread rapidly both inside and from poverty-stricken Venezuela.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Guaido as well as Maduro should step aside for a transitional government comprising members of both their parties that will arrange elections in six to 12 months.
If fully implemented, the United States and European Union would lift sanctions, including sweeping US restrictions on Venezuela's key export of oil, the State Department said.
The IMF and other international lenders would be invited to plan economic relief for Venezuela, from which millions have fled as they face dire shortages of food and other necessities.
The plan also calls for the departure of foreign forces from Venezuela, a reference to the regime's support from Russia and Cuba.
"We believe this framework protects the interests and equities of all Venezuelan people who desperately seek a resolution to their dire political, economic and humanitarian crisis, and who know Venezuelans can have something better," Pompeo said, urging all sides to consider it "carefully and seriously."
Maduro has repeatedly ruled out ceding power and his government quickly rejected the framework, which is similar to a proposal put forward last year by Guaido in failed Norwegian-brokered talks.
"Venezuela is a free, sovereign, independent and democratic nation that does not and shall never accept instructions from any foreign government," Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said.
Elliott Abrams, the US pointman on Venezuela, downplayed the reaction as predictable but said Washington hoped to jumpstart private talks within the regime and the military, which has remained loyal to Maduro.
- Still trying to oust Maduro -
The United States on Tuesday offered a path for Venezuela's leftist leadership to remove sanctions in the face of a mounting humanitarian crisis by accepting a transitional government that excludes US ally Juan Guaido.
The tactical shift came after more than a year of faltering US-led efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro and as fears grow that the coronavirus pandemic will spread rapidly both inside and from poverty-stricken Venezuela.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Guaido as well as Maduro should step aside for a transitional government comprising members of both their parties that will arrange elections in six to 12 months.
If fully implemented, the United States and European Union would lift sanctions, including sweeping US restrictions on Venezuela's key export of oil, the State Department said.
The IMF and other international lenders would be invited to plan economic relief for Venezuela, from which millions have fled as they face dire shortages of food and other necessities.
The plan also calls for the departure of foreign forces from Venezuela, a reference to the regime's support from Russia and Cuba.
"We believe this framework protects the interests and equities of all Venezuelan people who desperately seek a resolution to their dire political, economic and humanitarian crisis, and who know Venezuelans can have something better," Pompeo said, urging all sides to consider it "carefully and seriously."
Maduro has repeatedly ruled out ceding power and his government quickly rejected the framework, which is similar to a proposal put forward last year by Guaido in failed Norwegian-brokered talks.
"Venezuela is a free, sovereign, independent and democratic nation that does not and shall never accept instructions from any foreign government," Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said.
Elliott Abrams, the US pointman on Venezuela, downplayed the reaction as predictable but said Washington hoped to jumpstart private talks within the regime and the military, which has remained loyal to Maduro.
- Still trying to oust Maduro -
AFP/File / Yuri CORTEZ, NICHOLAS KAMMUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (right) says that Washington still wants to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (left)
The United States has not shifted its goals, with Pompeo renewing support for Guaido -- a 36-year-old engineer who has been recognized as interim president by some 60 countries since January 2019.
And while the framework says that any Venezuelan can run for president in future elections, Pompeo reiterated that the United States wanted Maduro out.
"We've made clear all along that Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela," Pompeo told reporters.
Abrams later said that, while the United States would accept any results of a free election, it did not believe Maduro could win.
"There is no possible way that Nicolas Maduro remains in power if Venezuelans get to choose their own fate and get to elect their own leaders," he said.
Asked if Guaido could run, Pompeo said: "Absolutely yes."
"I think he's the most popular politician in Venezuela. I think if there were an election held today, he could do incredibly well," Pompeo said.
"But more importantly we continue to support him. When we put together this pathway to democracy, we worked closely with him."
- Guaido summoned -
The United States has not shifted its goals, with Pompeo renewing support for Guaido -- a 36-year-old engineer who has been recognized as interim president by some 60 countries since January 2019.
And while the framework says that any Venezuelan can run for president in future elections, Pompeo reiterated that the United States wanted Maduro out.
"We've made clear all along that Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela," Pompeo told reporters.
Abrams later said that, while the United States would accept any results of a free election, it did not believe Maduro could win.
"There is no possible way that Nicolas Maduro remains in power if Venezuelans get to choose their own fate and get to elect their own leaders," he said.
Asked if Guaido could run, Pompeo said: "Absolutely yes."
"I think he's the most popular politician in Venezuela. I think if there were an election held today, he could do incredibly well," Pompeo said.
"But more importantly we continue to support him. When we put together this pathway to democracy, we worked closely with him."
- Guaido summoned -
AFP/File / Federico ParraA supporter of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido shoots back a tear gas canister shot by security forces during clashes on March 10, 2020
Guaido welcomed Pompeo's initiative, writing on Twitter: "This is the time to rise; we are taking the right steps to save Venezuela."
Hours earlier, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said on state television that Guaido had been summoned to appear before prosecutors in an investigation into the seizure of weapons in neighboring Colombia.
Saab alleged that the arms were to be smuggled into Venezuela. Colombia last week said it discovered a weapons cache linked to a retired Venezuelan general, Cliver Alcala -- who last week surrendered to US authorities on drug-trafficking charges.
Alcala on Tuesday pleaded not guilty before a federal court in New York.
He was once close to late president Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor and ideological inspiration. But Saab charged that Alcala was taking orders from Guaido.
Opposition supporters say the Venezuelan judiciary regularly trumps up charges for political reasons, although Guaido has been allowed to operate freely, even after he flew to Washington earlier this year to meet President Donald Trump.
The United States last week also filed drug-trafficking charges against Maduro, putting a $15 million bounty on his head.
Abrams said that the indictment, as well as any sanctions against Maduro not directly related to his holding of power, would remain in place even if he accepts a transitional government.
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Guaido welcomed Pompeo's initiative, writing on Twitter: "This is the time to rise; we are taking the right steps to save Venezuela."
Hours earlier, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said on state television that Guaido had been summoned to appear before prosecutors in an investigation into the seizure of weapons in neighboring Colombia.
Saab alleged that the arms were to be smuggled into Venezuela. Colombia last week said it discovered a weapons cache linked to a retired Venezuelan general, Cliver Alcala -- who last week surrendered to US authorities on drug-trafficking charges.
Alcala on Tuesday pleaded not guilty before a federal court in New York.
He was once close to late president Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor and ideological inspiration. But Saab charged that Alcala was taking orders from Guaido.
Opposition supporters say the Venezuelan judiciary regularly trumps up charges for political reasons, although Guaido has been allowed to operate freely, even after he flew to Washington earlier this year to meet President Donald Trump.
The United States last week also filed drug-trafficking charges against Maduro, putting a $15 million bounty on his head.
Abrams said that the indictment, as well as any sanctions against Maduro not directly related to his holding of power, would remain in place even if he accepts a transitional government.
burs-sct/dw
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