“Juan Guaidó has no weight in the opposition, he is the most unsuccessful politician in the history of Venezuela” | INTERVIEW

José Antonio Colina, ex-military and president of the Organization of Political Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile (Veppex), does not expect anything from the opposition of his country. It affirms that the participation of a large part of that sector in the regional elections in November and in the negotiations with the government of Nicolas Maduro It is a mistake for which only the people of Venezuela.

SIGHT: Electoral observation and opposition marked the electoral simulation of Venezuela

“If we speak in terms of political leadership, the opposition is non-existent. It does not enjoy any kind of support from the population, neither inside nor outside the country“, he says Trade from Miami, where last week his organization received Leopoldo López with a protest and cries of disappointment.

“How did the opposition get to this point?”

The opposition did not fulfill the objectives and promises it had made and wasted several important moments. They never proposed in the international arena an exit of force, given the criminal nature of the regime. In addition, to Guaidó It took him a long time to come to the United States to meet with Donald Trump, who was his main ally. What ended up defrauding Venezuelan society were the cases of corruption and the lack of transparency in handling the resources and assets given by the international community. The negotiation and participation in the regional elections in November has also generated disappointment.

All this has prepared a rather thick breeding ground in which Venezuelan society no longer believes in the opposition, does not endorse any political leader and does not have his hopes in an exit in which these gentlemen have some type of protagonism. For these reasons, the opposition, which at some point was very united and had great power and strength, practically ended up dissolving due to its lack of credibility and transparency.

José Antonio Colina, 46, fled Venezuela in 2003. (Photo: AP) (J Pat Carter /)

—How do you perceive the figure of Guaidó today? What weight does it have?

It has no weight in the opposition. Guaidó He is the most unsuccessful politician in the history of Venezuela and he is the one that has the greatest amount of rejection at this time because he has been the only politician who has had the support of 66 countries, who has been able to manage resources and who, unfortunately, did not have the capacity or the courage to achieve a transition to the freedom of Venezuela.

He tries to show that he is the interim president, that he is the leader of the opposition, but he is a completely non-existent leadership, he represents a government that does not exist, he is a political capital that is completely lost. You have no option whatsoever to make up the ground you have lost.

Juan Guaidó supports the opposition’s participation in the November regional elections. (Photo: AFP) (YURI CORTEZ /)

—Leopoldo López defends that, although there are no guarantees for regional elections, those elections can be useful for the opposition …

It is a tremendous incoherence because if the elections do not work, then why will he participate. Leopoldo López became a great political swindler, who sold a certain position to gain support, but once he reached a position of power, he did not maintain that position, but became what he himself criticized.

What do you expect to happen after the November elections?

That the regime remain in power, now with a certain halo of legitimacy because by presenting itself to an electoral process the opposition is recognizing the regime of Nicolas Maduro. In general terms, for the ordinary Venezuelan these elections will represent absolutely nothing because the country continues in an economic crisis, it continues without food, without medicine. The common citizen continues to have to overcome a series of difficulties in order to survive, people continue to die of hunger, of COVID-19, people continue to leave the border on foot. The November election represents absolutely nothing.

Venezuela held an electoral mock Sunday for the regional and local elections in November. (Photo: AFP)

“What will Maduro win?”

Nicolas Maduro he wants to have the sanctions lifted and to obtain legitimacy, but what he is going to obtain is some legitimacy. The sanctions are not going to be taken away from them, so I really think everyone lost here.

– Nor do you think that the negotiations in Mexico will result in something positive for Venezuelans …

That ain’t going to get anywhere because Mature he wants the sanctions removed and that is not going to happen. The United States has already taken an important first step by decertifying Venezuela of the fight against drug trafficking. No country that does not fight against drug trafficking is going to obtain loans from international banks or get help from the international community, so there is no way that sanctions can be lifted. That dialogue is going to get to absolutely nothing.

Nicolás Maduro wants the United States to lift the economic sanctions imposed on Venezuela. (Photo: AFP) (ZURIMAR CAMPOS /)

—Mexico is sponsoring the dialogues with the government, the European Union will be the guarantor in the November elections. How do you see the role that the international community has taken?

I see the role of the international community as a bit deficient because a number of countries that are allies of the regime, such as Mexico, and the European Union are playing the business of negotiation and understanding, regardless of which regime Mature It is a regime of drug traffickers, where there are rewards for the main leaders of the so-called revolution. I think they are aiming for the regime to have some legitimacy for the United States to lift the sanctions, but that is not going to happen.

– What way do you see now to get out of this crisis?

Unfortunately, I do not see a safe path for either the opposition or Venezuelan society to achieve any change, at least in the short term. For this to happen, other political actors committed to leaving the regime would have to come, who are willing to sacrifice what is necessary to get out of a type of regime like this.

_______________

• Pandora Papers: investigation reveals 35 world leaders hid their fortune to avoid paying taxes
• Melbourne becomes the city in the world with the most days under strict confinement due to coronavirus
• Why New Zealand Decided To Abandon Its “Successful” Coronavirus Total Elimination Strategy (And What’s New)
• A Romanian millionaire among the 8 killed by a private plane crash against a building in Milan | PHOTOS
• President of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso created an ‘offshore’ network to hide his fortune, according to the Pandora Papers
• Simple guide to understanding Pandora Papers, one of the biggest leaks in history
• The Romanovs and the lineage of the last tsars: what was the fate of the descendants of the royal family of Russia?

.