Juan Guaidó, who is expected to be in Miami today, asks for U.S. help
Today I return to the United States to report to my fellow Venezuelans living here on our progress in ending the suffering of the Venezuelan people and our commitment to restoring democracy through free and fair elections.
As demonstrated on Jan. 5, the Maduro regime will stop at nothing to dismantle our last remaining democratic institution. Despite the best efforts of Nicolas Maduro’s street thugs, the true democratic Venezuelans of the National Assembly met with a quorum and elected me their leader. Ongoing threats of violence and murder will never stop us from meeting and upholding Venezuela’s constitution. This dictatorship cannot intimidate democracy.
I thank President Trump and the entire U.S. government, in both the executive and legislative branches, as well as their counterparts across Europe and the Americas for all they have done and will continue to do on behalf of my country and my people.
They have helped Venezuela in our time of greatest need, and no Venezuelan will ever forget that. Their commitment has been extraordinary, but on behalf of our people, I must ask for more.
In 2020, we expect to see the 5 million Venezuelans become refugees. Five years ago, Venezuelans began leaving with enough resources to buy homes in other countries. Today, they leave with what remains of their homes on their backs, desperate to survive another day.
They leave their homeland because the corrupt and incompetent Maduro regime uses food and medicine as weapons of war, and of repression against innocent men, women and children. This has caused a humanitarian emergency that, in turn, has created a regional refugee crisis, potentially destabilizing our neighbors. This year, without additional assistance, Venezuela could pass Syria as the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis.
The interim government and our deputies from the National Assembly have worked tirelessly to coordinate donations of food and medicine from many countries around the world. While the Maduro regime, with the assistance of the Russian and Cuban regimes, has attempted to block delivery of these precious life-sustaining supplies, I am proud to report we have been making quiet deliveries in communities across Venezuela. Still, just 1,300 miles from Miami, parents across Venezuela face the unimaginable decision of which child should eat that day.
Depriving our people of food and medicine is hardly Maduro’s only crime. He has made violating the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights a calling card of his regime.
With the guidance and encouragement of Russia and Cuba, Maduro’s regime arrests, tortures and even kills our citizens. We demand that the regimes of Russia and Cuba stop torture and abuse, and leave our country forever.
The Maduro regime also has enabled and encouraged illegal armed groups and criminal cartels to operate from and in Venezuela. Our neighbors in the hemisphere are under siege, and our very sovereignty is being sacrificed to these criminal gangs. This is further proof that Maduro never cared about people, but only about retaining power at any cost.
On this trip to build a coalition of support, I’ve witnessed first-hand that world leaders see Maduro’s Venezuela as worse than a dictatorship, or even a failed state. They understand that Maduro has created a sanctuary for terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime that is poisoning my country, our region and our global community.
The Maduro regime plans to convene fraudulent parliamentary elections with a partisan Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) election board, appointed by the regime’s Supreme Court or its National Assembly.
The only way to stop this crisis and alleviate the suffering for all Venezuelans is to hold free, fair and transparent presidential elections with a CNE appointed by the National Assembly according to our constitution. To achieve free presidential elections, we must increase and coordinate the pressure including all international allies.
The people of Venezuela want and desperately need change. Without it, Venezuela could lose current and future generations to starvation, malnutrition, communicable diseases, human rights violations, corruption and criminality.
Today, I am proud to return to the United States, land of the free and home of the brave. I know that if we work together, in the barrios, villages and cities across Venezuela and focus the efforts of our allies, we will celebrate next year in a country filled with hope and opportunity, not fear and despair. There is hope for the freedom not only of my country, but of the entire region, especially in Cuba and Nicaragua, countries whose regimes are largely supported by the Maduro regime.