Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday encouraged Venezuelans to protest against President Nicolas Maduro, on the eve of demonstrations scheduled by a Maduro opposition group.
“As you make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people we say to all the good people of Venezuela: estamos con ustedes,” Pence said in a video released on Twitter. “We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of libertad.”
The top opposition lawmaker in Venezuela, National Assembly President Juan Guaido, has called for peaceful protests against Maduro on Wednesday, a symbolic date in Venezuelan politics as the anniversary of a previous dictator’s overthrow. Pence’s message is likely to amplify the call.
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Maduro amid a persistent economic and political crisis, but the diplomatic pressure has grown more focused in recent days as opposition lawmakers have raised the call for Maduro’s fall from power.
“They are teetering on just trying to survive,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told the Washington Examiner while discussing the Maduro regime. “My prediction would be that that is an illegitimate dictatorship that is unsustainable.”
Guaido has invoked a provision of the constitution that allows his office to assume the powers of interim president and oversee transitional elections. Maduro’s regime countered by declaring through the Supreme Court that all of the National Assembly’s actions are void.
“Is it enough to abide by the constitution?” Guaido said in launching his anti-Maduro campaign. “It must be the people of Venezuela, the armed forces, the international community that lead us to assume our mandate.”
President Trump’s administration has provided high-profile rhetorical support to the move, which Pence dubbed a “courageous decision” on Tuesday.
“Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power,” Pence said. “He’s never won the presidency in a free and fair election, and he’s maintained his grip on power by imprisoning anyone who dares to oppose him.”
