Venezuela’s biggest opposition parties are taking steps to remove
Juan Guaidó
as their leader and phase out a U.S.-led strategy in which he was recognized as the legitimate president in an effort to unseat
Nicolás Maduro,
according to several people familiar with the discussions.
Leaders of three of the largest parties that make up the opposition coalition said during meetings in Panama last week that they would no longer support Mr. Guaidó as the so-called interim president after his term expires on Jan. 5, these people said. While there was no formal vote on the measure, the main parties—A New Era, Democratic Action and Justice First—control a majority of Venezuela’s exiled congress, whose support is essential for Mr. Guaidó to continue in office.
“We’re getting very close to that consensus that the interim government experiment didn’t work and that a new structure is needed,” one person close to the deliberations said.
Juan Guaidó greeting supporters during an opposition rally in Venezuela in June.
Photo:
Henry Chirinos/EPA/Shutterstock
In January 2019, the U.S. and dozens of other countries in Latin America and Europe recognized Mr. Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president. Mr. Maduro clung to power with the support of Russia, Iran and China.
In a statement, Mr. Guaidó, the 39-year-old head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said that his movement has a constitutional mandate to continue in power until free and fair elections are held in the country, which are unlikely to happen before 2024.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the Biden administration is thinking about scaling down sanctions on the government of Venezuela to allow
Chevron Corp.
to resume pumping oil there, paving the way for a potential reopening of U.S. and European markets to oil exports from Venezuela. A deal, though, would be contingent on Mr. Maduro resuming long-suspended talks with opposition leaders in Mexico…
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