Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who criticized the United Kingdom on Thursday in response to this country’s support for the opposition National Assembly elected in 2015 as the only legitimate one, spoke in his annual accountability speech of his intentions to form a bloc of forces policies with Colombia and Brazil.
With the recent political changes in its neighbors Colombia and Brazil, which elected the left-leaning presidents Gustavo Petro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Maduro will bet on “regional integration,” which he said he told them about.
Maduro intends to “advance in the formation of a powerful bloc of political forces, of economic power, that speaks to the world… to the construction of new poles of power.” His speech coincides with that of Petro, who has referred to the issue in public statements promoting the Latin American regional union to address cross-cutting issues such as climate change, trade and a change in the anti-drug strategy.
Diplomatic relations
With the arrival of Petro and Lula, Caracas reestablished diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries that had been broken for years due to political differences. Colombia was during the government of Iván Duque (2018-2022) an ally of the United States in exerting pressure on the Maduro government.
On the same day that the president gave his annual speech, in which he gave an account of the previous year, Maduro responded with criticism of the United Kingdom’s pronouncement on the National Assembly in 2015. He criticized the position of the European country of only giving legitimacy to that entity that is in the hands of the opposition.
“I find it laughable, ridiculous, really that at this point they lend themselves to farce,” he said from the federal legislative palace that is the seat of the National Assembly elected in 2020 and controlled by Chavismo.
The British government in its official communication on Thursday indicated that it continues to consider that the 2015 Assembly is the “last” elected “democratically” in Venezuela, as the United States had previously stated. The United Kingdom also supported the recent decision to extend its validity for another year and supported the decision to dissolve the figure of the interim government led by Juan Guaidó, the opposition face before the international community.
international partners
“We will continue to work with our international partners to encourage the parties involved to do everything necessary for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” as well as the holding of “free and fair” presidential elections in 2024, in accordance with international democratic standards.” , added the communication from the United Kingdom.
The now dissolved interim government came to have the support of more than 50 countries since its creation in 2019, however, over the years it has lost support. The United Kingdom and the United States continue to support the opposition represented by the 2015 Assembly.