The international community must not abandon the people of Venezuela in their fight for democracy, opposition leader Juan Guaido, told government and corporate leaders at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
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“We have to bring pressure to bear against the dictatorship,’’ Guaido said at the annual summit in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, referring to the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
“I think it is important that we don’t leave Venezuela behind,’’ he said through a translator.
Gaudio’s speech sounded less forceful than during his visit to Brussels on Wednesday when he called on his allies abroad to ratchet up sanctions targeting the government.
Guaido set out a plan, one year ago, to oust the Venezuelan government and hold free elections.
In Davos, he acknowledged that the opposition had underestimated the government’s power, saying that more needed to be done to widen the opposition movement.
Guaido was elected president of the opposition-dominated National Assembly in January 2019.
Both Guaido and pro-Maduro lawmaker, Luis Parra, is now claiming the presidency of the parliament.
The EU and the U.S. have imposed sanctions to put pressure on Maduro’s government.
Maduro won a second term in a controversial election in 2018.
He has presided over an economic meltdown that has seen the number of Venezuelans living abroad rise to 4.8 million, according to UN figures.