Washington (EFE).- The Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, in exile since 2020, denounced this Tuesday that President Nicolás Maduro remains in power due to the support of the “enemies” of the United States, and demanded greater support for the forces democracies in your country, particularly from Washington.
“There is no way to win the fight for democracy and freedom if the United States does not lead it,” he told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Democratic lawmaker Bob Menéndez.
López, a resident of Spain, emphasized in that session that the Venezuelan president, in his opinion, is not in power because of military support, nor because of his country’s wealth in natural resources, nor because the opposition is fractured.
“The real reason is the international support it has from enemies of the United States: from Russia, China, Iran, Belarus, Cuba. Maduro is clearly part of an autocratic network that is aligned to protect itself, to defend itself diplomatically,” added the politician and economist.
López made it clear in his appearance that democratic movements need the support of the United States.
“Democracy needs to be fought for. We need to make visible the reality of political prisoners and transnational repression. And also increase the cost for the regime of having political prisoners,” stressed the opposition leader.
Defense of the sanctions against the Government of Maduro
The appearance focused on US support for democracy and human rights and also included the leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and the president of the pro-democracy NGO National Endowment for Democracy. (NED), Damon Wilson.
López, a member of the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank, stressed that there must be massive access to the Internet, free and uncensored, to combat misinformation and enable people to mobilize.
And he also called for “rethinking sanctions”: “They are not a panacea. They are a means to an end,” he said.
The crisis in his country, he stressed, is not a consequence of the sanctions, but of mismanagement and corruption, and for this reason he demanded that the sanctions not only focus on government officials, but also on all those individuals and companies that ” They are behind that kleptocratic network of corruption and that provides support to the dictatorship.”
The Venezuelan politician added that the private sector should also be part of the conversation in favor of greater rights, and specifically pointed out in reference to the United States that only bipartisan support is not necessary.
That support, he concluded, must have the cooperation of all branches of the Executive.