Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, self-exiled in Spain, has affirmed in an interview with the BBC that the possible election of Joe Biden as president of the United States will not change the country’s position towards Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro.
“I believe that the position of the United States vis-à-vis Venezuela is a bipartisan position. When Juan Guaidó went to the United States and was in the Union speech, in February of this year, he received a great ovation from both Republican congressmen and from the democrats “, has affirmed López.
The founding leader of the Popular Will party stressed that “we have the support to bring change to our country.” “It has nothing to do with one ideology or another. It is not about Republicans or Democrats. It is not about the Socialist Party in Spain or the Popular Party,” he argued.
Regarding his decision to leave the country after spending months sheltering in Spanish diplomatic offices in Caracas, López has rejected that it is a “defeat” and has indicated that it will serve to “strengthen the international coalition.”
“Circumstances have changed. And one of the main elements that we need to bring change to Venezuela is the strengthening of the international coalition with our national coalition and with the Venezuelan people, with the objective of carrying out the change that Venezuela needs,” has aimed.
“It has not been easy to bring change to North Korea (sic). It has not been possible to bring change to Cuba or Nicaragua and it has not been possible to bring change to Venezuela,” he argued.
OPPOSITION STRATEGY
Asked about the strategic timing of some of the opposition’s decisions, López has pointed out that “we have made the right and important decisions that have brought us closer to resuming our freedom, (but) other decisions have not been so successful at the time.”
In any case, he stressed that “the problem is not the opposition.” “The problem in Venezuela is not the Venezuelan people. The problem is the criminal dictatorship that assassinates its people, that kills its prisoners and has millions of Venezuelans starving. Let’s be clear: Venezuela’s tragedy has a name, Nicolás Maduro “, has riveted.
He has also defended the proclamation of his political ally, Juan Guaidó, as the “president in charge” of Venezuela and his international recognition by the United States, Colombia and their allies. “We are very grateful to all the countries that recognized Guaidó as president. And I am convinced that they did so with the idea that free and fair elections would be held in the country,” he said.
However, the opposition not only questioned Maduro’s legitimacy, but more drastic actions were promoted, such as the attempted coup on April 30, 2019. “We tried and then took a step backwards,” he said. explained. “The situation in Venezuela is that we are facing a dictator and a dictator cannot be treated with the rules and dynamics of democracy. And we need to do what we have to do to overthrow the dictator. We are facing a monster here. “, has argued.
As for the subsequent Operation Gedeón, in which Guaidó’s representatives contacted a US mercenary company to overthrow Maduro, López has assured that “that episode was something created and elaborated by the dictatorship.” “So it is not true that we were involved,” he said.
However, he has argued that he “knew nothing of those conversations” of Sergio Vergara and J.J. Rendon. “And later, when Guaidó found out about this, the conversation with that group was completely blocked. And also the position of President Guaidó was very clear. He did not agree with that operation and those two people stopped being collaborators of the president.” , has riveted.
As for the legislative elections on December 6, López has assured that they want to go to elections. “We want presidential elections because it is the only way in which change can come, but we are not going to be part of a fraud,” he insisted.
