U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated on the 3rd that the new government led by President Joseph Biden will not talk to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the near future.
Price said the United States continues to recognize Juan Guaidó, a Venezuelan opposition representative and former parliamentary chairman, as the “provisional president”.
Price did not call for Maduro to leave or step down, but he made it clear that the Biden administration is currently refusing to talk to Maduro’s administration.
Asked if the situation changes and the possibility of future dialogue between the two sides, he said: “I’m talking about the current policy, and we certainly don’t expect any contact with Maduro in the near future.”
The United States continues to support Guaidó, and the European Union “delegated” Guaidó last week, no longer recognizes Guaidó as the “provisional president” of Venezuela, but regards him as a “special dialogue party” to the Venezuelan political process, while reaffirming that it does not recognize Venezuela’s parliamentary elections held at the end of last year.
The election was boycotted by several opposition parties, and the ruling party’s campaign coalition won.
The Venezuelan opposition coalition won a majority of seats in the 2015 parliamentary elections. The Supreme Court found that there was fraud in the election and ruled that Parliament was in an “illegal state”.
Maduro won re-election in May 2018, but the United States and other countries supported the opposition’s claim that the presidential election was fraudulent, endorsing Guaidó’s self-styled “provisional president” in January 2019.
The Maduro government and the Supreme Court condemned Guaidó’s attempt to commit a coup.
The Venezuelan Parliament voted last January, and opposition MP Luis Parra was elected president of Parliament, replacing Guaidó.
