Proposed negotiations between Maduro and Guaido come to a halt after fresh US sanctions
The President of Venezuela – Nicolas Maduro has ordered his Government negotiators not to travel to Barbados for negotiations with the self-declared Interim President of Venezuela – Juan Guaido, after United States (U.S.), who supports Guaido, imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela.
The 2-day talks were scheduled to be held on 8th and 9th August 2019. For the records, Maduro and Guaido had commenced discussions in July 2019 to reach a consensus over the 6 months long political turmoil, which has resulted in civic unrest across Venezuela.
“I’ve decided we’re not going to continue. This week, the North American imperialists went crazy. The Bolivarian fury is ready for battle,” Maduro said on television.
The Head of Venezuelan delegation – Jorge Rodriguez said in a media statement, “President Nicolas Maduro has decided not to send the Venezuelan delegation to this opportunity due to the severe and brutal aggression perpetrated continuously and insidiously by the Trump administration against Venezuela.”
The statement further read, “Venezuelans have noted how the leader of the opposition delegation, Juan Guaido, has celebrated and promoted these actions that are harmful to national sovereignty.”
Earlier on Monday, i.e., August 5, 2019, the President of U.S. – Donald Trump ordered to freeze all the assets of Venezuelan Government in the U.S. and barred transactions with its authorities. The sanctions also include authorisation of penalties against foreign persons who provide support to Maduro and his Government in any form.
Post this, the National security Adviser to the U.S. – John Bolton warned the countries having bilateral ties with Venezuela to not to risk their relations with U.S. by supporting Venezuela.
Condemning the Trump’s decision, the Vice President of Venezuela – Delcy Rodriguez said, “The U.S. has to understand once and for all that they aren’t the owners of the world. Every country that has investments in the US should be very worried because this sets a dangerous precedent against private property.”
Venezuela has been in deep crisis since January 2019, when the opposition leader, Juan Guaido took an oath and declared himself the Interim President of Venezuela. He invoked the Constitution to take charge as the Interim President of Venezuela after declaring that Maduro’s has won the re-election by unethical means. He was immediately recognised by the Donald Trump as the Interim President of Venezuela. Later, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Britain and Spain also started supporting him. Presently, he has support of more than 50 U.S. allies.
The oil-rich but cash-strapped Venezuela has been facing recession for 5 years. The people are struggling for the necessities of life such as food and medicines. According to the National Assembly, the annual inflation rate reached 1,300,000% in the 12 months to November 2018. More than 3.3 million people have left the country since the start of 2016.
