Pompeo: Closing in On Maduro
Honing in On Maduro
“The Cuban regime has for years exported its oppression to Venezuela. Cuban military, intelligence, and security services keep Maduro in power. This behavior undermines the stability of countries in the Western Hemisphere, and poses a direct threat to U.S. national security.”……
”In Cucuta, I saw the assistance being provided by the Colombian Government, NGOs & U.S. partners to Venezuelans fleeing the man-made disaster while dreaming of a more prosperous, free, & stable #Venezuela. A complete return to democracy is the only way forward.
“In Lima , I thanked President
@MartinVizcarraC for #Peru’s outspoken support for restoring democracy in #Venezuela. We discussed broad U.S.-Peru ties and ways to promote bilateral trade and counter transnational crime.
As Pompeo focuses in on Pressuring Maduro out in last month, while making the rounds of allies and foes down South, the Trump administration issued its official position on Venezuela.
Nicolas Maduro: Corruption and Chaos in Venezuela
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
April 15, 2019
“Maduro usurped power; he’s not the duly elected president. Juan Guaido is the person that the Venezuelan people chose. America and now 54 other nations simply have ratified that, have said, ‘Yep, we recognize that’s what Venezuelans want.’” – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, March 19, 2019.
Venezuela’s former regime, led by Nicolas Maduro, has consistently violated the human rights and dignity of its citizens, plundered the country’s natural resources, and driven a once prosperous nation into economic ruin with his authoritarian rule and socialist economic policies. Maduro’s thugs have engaged in extra-judicial killings and torture, taken political prisoners, and severely restricted freedom of speech, all in a brutal effort to retain power.
MADURO’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTS:
- In 2015, pro-democracy opposition parties resoundingly defeated the Maduro regime in legislative elections. Shortly thereafter, Maduro began dismantling various branches of government. Lame-duck National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello rushed to stack the country’s courts with unqualified party hacks to serve as Maduro’s guarantors of power.
- On January 11, 2016, when the National Assembly proceeded to seat three legitimately elected deputies, the Supreme Court declared the National Assembly in contempt, rendering all subsequent legislation approved by this democratically elected body null and void. Maduro has deliberately sidelined this constitutionally legitimate Assembly ever since.
- Maduro’s National Electoral Council (CNE) cronies oversee the conduct of all elections and declare the winners. Since 2015, they have tilted the playing field to ensure that Maduro can’t lose. They have disqualified every major opposition party and most opposition candidates since 2017.
- In 2017, acting on Maduro’s orders, the CNE organized widely contested elections for the National Constituent Assembly, whose primary objective was to draft a new constitution. Instead, Maduro used the Assembly to usurp the powers of the legitimate National Assembly, ratify his orders, and enact laws, many of which vilify and disparage opposition figures and their policy proposals.
- This sham electoral system culminated in the May 20, 2018 presidential elections. With most opposition figures arrested, exiled, or banned from running, Maduro faced a weakened field of candidates in a rigged election. To drive pro-Maduro turnout, the regime bribed voters with desperately needed food and other subsidies in exchange for their votes.
- On January 10, 2019, Maduro unlawfully assumed the presidency at a ceremony deemed illegitimate by many Venezuelans and more than 50 countries, including most of Venezuela’s neighbors and the majority of the European Union.
In this context, Juan Guaido, elected on January 5, 2019, as President of the National Assembly, the only remaining democratically elected and legitimate institution in the country, invoked relevant articles of the Venezuelan constitution and became Venezuela’s Interim President.
MADURO’S CORRUPTION:
- Maduro’s most egregious corruption scheme involved embezzlement from the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA). In 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a finding under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. A European bank accepted exorbitant commissions to process approximately $2 billion in transactions related to Venezuelan third–party money launderers, shell companies, and complex financial products to siphon off funds from PdVSA.
- In 2018, a $1.2 billion money-laundering scheme involving Matthias Krull, a German national and Panamanian resident, and Gustavo Adolfo Hernandez, a Colombian national and naturalized U.S. citizen, exploited PdVSA and took advantage of the corruption in Venezuela’s foreign currency exchange systems by trading U.S. dollars for Venezuelan bolivars at market rate and then back again.
- In 2016, Maduro declared approximately 12% of the country to be a part of an “Orinoco Mining Arc” and awarded himself broad authorities to oversee the exploitation of resources for personal gain. In 2017, the regime ejected legitimate foreign companies doing business and replaced them with unregulated miners who operate with the backing of senior Venezuelan military officers.
- In 2017, after a seven month investigation, Venezuela’s National Assembly uncovered instances where the regime “spent” $42 for a box of food, which it then distributed in exchange for votes, at a time when the food items cost less than $13. Maduro’s inner circle kept the difference, which totaled more than $200 million dollars in at least one case.
- Venezuela ranks 169 out of 180 countries on the Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index.