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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was not invited to a summit of Western Hemisphere leaders in June. But by October, he was traveling to Egypt for a conference where he joked with French President Emmanuel Macron and shook hands with John Kerry, the U.S. government’s climate envoy.
The tall Maduro wore a genial smile throughout the meetings, which were carefully filmed, posted on social media and broadcast on Venezuelan state television.
Since inheriting the country’s leadership following the death of President Hugo Chavez, Maduro is struggling to regain the international recognition he lost when his re-election in 2018 was deemed sham by dozens of countries.
The efforts are also aimed at strengthening his power at home as he heads into 2023, amid mounting pressure to hold a free and fair presidential election next year.
Crucial to Maduro’s calculations are his country’s number one asset — oil — and the war in Ukraine. The South American country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but it has been deprived of supplies to Western markets as democracy and human rights have deteriorated since Maduro’s re-election, and the United States has imposed tough economic sanctions.
The international community wants to “make some kind of contribution to global energy security, and with Russian oil out of the market, Venezuelan oil becomes attractive again,” said Lineberger, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. base think tank.
As Maduro tries to clean up his image, many of the conditions that made him an international pariah remain intact.
Independent experts working with the United Nations’ top human rights body have documented systematic attacks on government opponents, journalists and others. They reported in September that Maduro personally ordered the detention of government opponents, who were subjected to electric shocks, suffocation and other brutal acts while in detention.
The economic crisis that began during Chávez’s final months in office has intensified under Maduro’s presidency. It has driven some 7 million Venezuelans out of the country, rendered the local currency worthless and impoverished millions.
Under Maduro, who succeeded Chavez in 2013, about three-quarters of the population live on less than $1.90 a day — the international benchmark for extreme poverty. Power outages are part of everyday life, and water supplies are severely limited.
“He’s trying to project a strong image, but the reality is, he’s desperate for international attention right now,” said Jeff Ramsey, director of Venezuela studies at the Washington Office of the U.S. think tank. “We saw this in Cairo, where he ambushed world leaders and then projected those corridor encounters into official state visits.”
Ramsey said Maduro has serious cash flow problems and wants access to the international financial system and the U.S. oil market. But, he added, the only way Maduro might get dollars again is by negotiating with the opposition.
Negotiations between Maduro and the opposition, including factions backed by the U.S. government, were suspended for more than a year after one of his key ally was extradited to the United States from Africa.
But the two sides struck a major deal in late November to fund much-needed social programs.
The deal would result in a UN-administered fund to finance health, food and education programs in Venezuela.
The money will be drawn from the country’s assets frozen abroad and is not expected to go directly to Maduro’s government.But that hasn’t stopped his government from pushing the deal as a way to recover funds “kidnapped” by the US
Still to be agreed, though, are the terms of a presidential election scheduled for 2024, the release of political prisoners and an end to a ban on many opposition politicians running for office.
The opposition plans to hold primary elections next year. Its clearest potential candidate is Juan Guaidó, although he has declared himself Maduro since he led the then-opposition-dominated Congress in 2019 and drew tens of thousands of anti-Maduro protesters to the streets. His approval ratings in Venezuela and abroad have plummeted since his rival became president.
Maduro has gained something.
A longtime supporter of Venezuela’s opposition – the government of neighboring Colombia – is now led by the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro. After taking office earlier this year, Petro immediately set about restoring relations with Venezuela. In a couple of weeks, Maduro will also regain the recognition of Brazil, as signaled by President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The region appears to be moving away from its anti-Maduro stance, Berg said, “mainly because the recent elections brought the government to power.”
He said some governments assumed that Venezuela’s “democratization would be a long process” involving negotiations, multiple elections and the lifting of sanctions, rather than change at “a discrete point in time.”
“It seems to me that the region is ready and more willing to try this approach now,” Berger said, noting that many countries in the region are struggling with their own domestic problems.
(Disclaimer: This story was auto-generated from a syndicate feed; only images and captions may have been edited by www.republicworld.com)
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