Venezuela’s Opposition Leader Guaidó Courted on Davos International Stage

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó landed in the British capital city of London on Tuesday, January 21st. He is expected to end his European tour, which will last several days, by attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Exactly one year ago Guaidó had declared the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, to be an “illegitimate” incumbent and proclaimed himself “interim president”. Immediately afterwards he was recognized by the USA, Germany and some 50 other governments. However, Guaidó has not yet been able to achieve a sufficient power base in the country. The current tour should now provide him with further international support to overthrow the socialist autocratic government.

After talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, Guadió was welcomed Thursday, January 23rd, in Brussels by the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrel and the EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas. Speaking to Members of the European Parliament (EP), the Venezuelan politician expressed his “deep gratitude” for the support he received from the supranational parliament.

On this occasion, Guaidó demanded greater “pressure” from Europe against the Maduro government. According to a report by the German news agency DPA, he demanded more sanctions against his country from the EP.

A statement by the EU Commission assured Guaidó of continued support. He was the legitimate president of the National Assembly and this is “the only democratically elected institution in Venezuela”.

Beyond a series of top-class photo sessions in a representative format, little substantial results of the meetings have been reported.

While numerous international media have noted the failure of Guaidó’s coup attempts and the low level of support in the country, and are extremely skeptical about his future role, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured him of the support of President Donald Trump’s government early in the week.

During his visit to Bogotá, the first stop on the a Latin American and Caribbean trip, Pompeo and the US Special Representative for Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, met with Guiadó on Monday. The world must continue to participate in “efforts to end the tyranny of Nicolás Maduro,” he said.

Colombia’s President Iván Duque welcomed Guaidó, who had left Venezuela despite an exit ban, with military honors as the “legitimate president of Venezuela”.

The opposition politician also attended a regional “conference on the fight against terrorism” in Colombia’s capital on Tuesday, to which the foreign ministers of 21 Latin American states, the USA and Canada, as well as Guaidó as Venezuelan representative, were invited.

Mexico and Uruguay attended as observers, and Israel was also represented. The aim of the 3rd Conference of this kind was to further develop cooperation between the security systems of participating States.

Duque, Pompeo, and Guaidó made alleged “threats by ELN and Hezbollah in Latin America and their presence in Venezuela” as one of the main topics. The Colombian National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) and “networks” of the Shiite party and Hezbollah militia from Lebanon have operated from Venezuelan territory.

Duque’s statements were commented on with indignation and mockery on social media: The president knows that Hezbollah cells exist in Venezuela, but he doesn’t know who are the social leaders murdered in Colombia, who are the paramilitary Aguilas Negras and that Los Rastrojos are allies.

“We all know that the Iranian regime with its armed faction is Hezbollah in Venezuela. This is unacceptable,” said Pompeo during his conference speech.

Guaidó’s envoy in the UK, Vanessa Neumann, told media representatives that “the presence of Hezbollah is part of the death and suffering of my people”. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, interferes in Venezuelan politics and trains Chávez officials to “murder, starve and oppress the people”.

In the conference’s final communiqué, in addition to general condemnations of terrorism, the ELN’s activities are a threat to the stability of the region. There is also “concern that terrorist organizations could take refuge in situations of institutional weakness, internal conflict or similar situations, such as Venezuela, in order to increase terrorist acts and criminal activities in the region”.

The United States and representatives of the right-wing in Latin America have repeatedly claimed a Hezbollah presence in Venezuela for years, but without providing any evidence.

This began when then President Hugo Chávez intensified relations with Iran in the early 2000s and the two countries began to cooperate in OPEC and signed numerous bilateral economic and energy agreements. According to Chávez, this cooperation was part of his efforts to build a “multipolar world that would end the hegemony of the dollar”.

The accusation that the ELN and/or the FARC-EP – both of which have also been operating in Colombia’s border regions since their foundation in the 1960s – are “harboring”, financing, training or controlling, has also been constantly brought up against the left-wing government since Chávez took office, without evidence.

According to a press release by the Davos organizers, “the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, and recognized by over 50 countries as Venezuela’s interim president,” would attend the annual conference.

Guaidó, as a member of the Forum’s “Young Global Leaders Community”, “has been invited in the tradition of providing an international stage for emerging leaders”.