Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, considered interim president of Venezuela by dozens of countries, maintains that he had nothing to do with the “sovereign” decision of the Joe Biden government to exchange seven Americans who were detained in an intelligence services prison in Caracas for two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro convicted of drug trafficking in the US.
In a statement published on Saturday night, the interim government affirmed that the exchange proves that in Venezuela “a criminal regime operates, linked to drug trafficking.” He also pointed out that it is “a threat to the security of people of any nationality in the country, and a risk for the entire region and the hemisphere.”
“The government of the United States decided to proceed with the exchange, a sovereign decision and in the power of our allies, in which the Government in Charge of Venezuela had nothing to do with it,” the text said.
However, he acknowledged that “the release of 7 Americans kidnapped by the Maduro dictatorship is good news for their families. No one deserves to live the hell that millions of Venezuelans live under a regime that systematically and massively violates their human rights. The UN has pointed out, Maduro directly orders crimes against humanity in Venezuela”.
In the text, the interim government urged international actors and allies who defend the values of democracy and freedom not to forget that, according to the International Independent Fact-Verification Mission on Venezuela, in the country “a machinery of repression that seeks to perpetuate itself in power.
Other reactions of the Venezuelan opposition
David Smolansky, commissioner of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS), spoke from exile about the US government’s decision.
The former presidential candidate and opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, said that the United States “always defends its interests, Maduro his and his leadership and we who are the rest, millions of Venezuelans, have to continue fighting for the interests of the homeland , of our Venezuela, especially of the most forgotten”.
Although she did not refer directly to the prisoner exchange, the opposition political leader, Delsa Solorzano, stated that it is up to Venezuelans to “liberate” the nation and insisted that more than 300 prisoners of conscience deserve freedom.
Until the time of writing this information, political leaders of other opposition forces had not spoken on the subject.
Swap Background
The Americans released in Venezuela were the five former Citgo executives, Tomeu Vadell, José Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo and José Pereira, detained since 2017 after being called to a meeting at Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Also released due to the exchange were former Marine Matthew Heath, imprisoned since 2020, and Osman Khan, who had been detained since January of this year.
Franqui Francisco Flores and Efraín Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who served 7 of 18 years in prison, after being convicted of drug trafficking crimes, were the two Venezuelans released by the US.
On March 5 of this year, under complete secrecy, a delegation from the White House, headed by Juan González, adviser to President Biden, met in Caracas with Maduro and other high-ranking officials of his government to begin a negotiation process.
At that time, the US government confirmed that “energy security” issues were addressed in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In December 2021, Roger Carstens, special envoy for hostage affairs, had traveled to Venezuela to, according to a State Department spokesman, discuss “the well-being and security” of Americans detained in Venezuela. Later it became known that he returned in June of this year.
Days earlier, the US Treasury Department removed Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, former Vice President of Finance of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and nephew of Maduro’s wife, from its sanctioned list.
Along with 13 other high-ranking officials of the Venezuelan government, Malpica Flores entered the sanctions list of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in July 2017.
At that time, although he did not refer directly to the removal of Malpica Flores from the OFAC list, Gerardo Blyde, representative of the opposition’s Unitarian Platform delegation in the talks with the Maduro government, assured that they had worked “very closely.” close” with the US in “specific actions aimed at reactivating” the dialogue process in Mexico.
Previously, the Unitarian Platform had denied versions that affirmed that it had requested the elimination of personal sanctions against Venezuelan officials as part of a negotiation.
The talks between the Maduro government and the opposition held in Mexico were suspended in October 2021, after the extradition to the US of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, whom the Venezuelan government sought to incorporate into its delegation.
Saab, whom the Maduro government recognizes as a diplomat, is being prosecuted in the US for conspiracy to launder money.
Following the announcement of the prisoner swap on Saturday, a White House official who spoke with reporters who asked if the release of Saabreplied: “He is on trial, so they would refer him [la pregunta] to the Department of Justice.”
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