U.S. Condemns, Sanctions Nicolás Maduro, Extends TPS For Venezuelans
After Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in on Friday, the U.S. condemned him, sanctioned him, and extended Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in the U.S.
As predicted, Venezuela was in U.S. news in a very big way on Friday. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president for the next six years after a tumultuous six months since Venezuela’s elections in July. While many are sticking to the narrative that suggests Edmundo González Urrutia won the election based on the data provided by Maria Corina Machado’s opposition party, there is no denying that the data is at best, suspicious.
That the data presented was never certified at the precinct level and tally sheets were found with fake names and forged signatures shows why no one has been able to validate it as authentic or legitimate. Essentially, the only actors pretending it is are those working at the behest of the United States and its covert operations which have sought to overthrow Venezuela’s government for more than 25 years.
Trying to rig elections in Venezuela, one of the most secure electoral systems in the world, is nothing new for the U.S. – neither is failing to do so. That Machado has always been at the forefront of these actions also speaks volumes. Not only has she participated in trying to rig elections, but she has also led multiple failed violent coups. Machado even once called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s fascist government to invade Venezuela to help her.
Since this latest failure, the U.S. issued a statement condemning Maduro on Friday.
“Today, Nicolás Maduro held an illegitimate presidential inauguration in Venezuela in a desperate attempt to seize power. The Venezuelan people and [the] world know the truth – Maduro clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim the presidency, reads a press release from the U.S. Department of State. “The United States rejects the National Electoral Council’s fraudulent announcement that Maduro won the presidential election and does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as the president of Venezuela. President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia should be sworn in, and the democratic transition should begin. We stand ready to support a return to democracy in Venezuela.”
No doubt Maduro laughed this off as rumors swirled of Erik Prince of Blackwater fame being present within Venezuela’s borders on Thursday. It is unclear if this is true. However, it underscores that the threat of violence against the Venezuelan people is high and will remain elevated for the foreseeable future.
It’s a heartbreaking but not uncommon way to live for Venezuelans.
“In solidarity with the Venezuelan people, the U.S. Government and our partners around the world are taking action today,” reads the press release. “The Department of State is increasing the reward offers to up to $25 million each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of Nicolás Maduro and Maduro’s Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello. The Department of State is also adding a new reward offer of up to $15 million for Maduro’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. These three reward offers stem from criminal narcotrafficking indictments announced in March 2020. The State Department is also taking steps to impose new visa restrictions on Maduro-aligned individuals for their roles in undermining the electoral process or in acts of repression in Venezuela. To date, the Department of State has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on nearly 2,000 Maduro-aligned individuals.”
Despite my asking the Department of State to provide any information they may have to validate the data that no media outlet or organization has been able to authenticate, I received no response and the department has instead maintained an aggressive stance against the country and its people riddled with disinformation, not unlike previous administrations.
“Concurrently, the Department of Treasury is imposing sanctions on eight Maduro-aligned individuals supporting Maduro’s illegitimate assertion of authority and repressive acts in Venezuela, including members of the security forces and political figures,” the press release continued. “These designations represent the third tranche of such measures since Venezuela’s July 28 election. Including today’s actions, the United States has individually sanctioned 187 current or former Maduro-aligned individuals for repressing and intimidating the democratic opposition in a desperate and illegitimate attempt to take power by force.”
The press release serves as a reminder that under the Trump administration, Venezuela was heavily sanctioned for not accepting the installation of Juan Guaido by the United States as president. Those sanctions led to the mass migration of Venezuelans out of the country due to the starvation conditions they created. It’s worth noting that under Trump, the same election rigging took place except for what appears to be manufactured data by way of tally sheets.
The extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans in the U.S. shows possible intent for future actions against Venezuela under Trump. This will protect Venezuelans from being detained and incarcerated since the U.S. does not have a repatriation agreement with the country and can’t send migrants back without authorization.
“In a separate action, the Department of Homeland Security today announced that the 2023 designation of Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status will be extended for 18 months, based on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane Maduro regime.”
As the U.S. paints Venezuelans as not supporting Maduro in any way, it behooves readers to understand that he benefits from broad support both at home and internationally. The United States would have you believe that the vast majority don’t support Maduro. But considering the violent nature of Machado’s opposition party and their candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, you begging to understand why they have always been wildly unpopular.
In addition, their policy proposals are not popular either. To argue that Venezuelans want to privatize everything like Argentina did and have poverty explode to record numbers is nonsense. To suggest that the people of a country that is more stable than it has been in about two decades and is seeing an economic boom want to destabilize is even more so
“The United States reaffirms our support for the peaceful democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people. Venezuelans’ voices should be heard and their votes respected,” reads the press release. “We condemn Nicolás Maduro and his representatives for resorting to violence and intimidation against their political opponents and the Venezuelan public. We call for the immediate release of all unjustly detained political prisoners, who remain behind bars merely for exercising their rights. Venezuelans must be allowed to express their political opinions peacefully, including through the exercise of freedoms of peaceful assembly and of expression, without fear of reprisal.”
In the United States, we need to become more in tune with the idea that just because we don’t like a certain leader, it doesn’t mean the people don’t. All world leaders need their populations to make their countries grow. To argue that they intentionally starve their people and bring misery upon them doesn’t make sense in an un-propagandized mind. Citizens are commodities to every country and represent the value of a nation through gross domestic product and other economic factors.
Treating them poorly is one of the fastest ways to get overthrown. Something Maduro seems to be less worried about than ever thanks in large part to the country’s growth over the last several years.
Read My Work Covering Venezuela’s Election
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Good call on predicting drama today over Venezuela. Biden/Trump are determined to revive the oligarch economy by stealing the legacy of Venezuelans. They start by bulldozing the international legal order to whitewash the centrality of their genocide to the Nakba as the exceptionalism of white apartheid malice secure in the propoganda of the Judith Miller colonial press. They then use the same outlets to invent unfair elections and suppressed dissent, the proverbial accusation coming out of their confession.