By Sue-Ann Wayow
UNLESS free and fair elections are held in Venezuela, its citizens will continue to suffer immensely.
This is according to United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Joseph Mondello who issued a statement on Wednesday following the deportation and return of Venezuelan refugees over the last few days.
Mondello said, “Until free and fair elections under the watchful eye of reputable international observers are available to the Venezuelan people, the status quo will continue.
“Refugees, guns, gangs, and drugs originating from Venezuela will continue to plague the region until democracy returns to the Venezuelan people.”
He added that the US government will continue to work with Trinidad and Tobago to help mitigate the consequences of the crisis.
“We look forward to the day when Venezuelans feel safe and secure enough to return home and rebuild their country rather than seek refuge elsewhere,” Mondello said.
Mondello maintained that US santions were not to be blamed for Venezuela’s situation but the Nicholas Maduro regime.
He said, “The responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela lies squarely with the failed policies and abuses of the Maduro regime.
“In September, the United Nations’ Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela documented that since 2014, long before the current OAS (Organization of American States) and US leadership took office, Venezuelan authorities under Maduro have committed grave human rights violations and crimes in violation of international law, including extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detentions, and excessive use of force.”
Mondello said, “At the same time, the economic incompetence of the Maduro regime has thrown a once prosperous, resource-rich country into poverty and turmoil. Many blame sanctions, but the Venezuelan economy was in free-fall long before the United States began to impose sanctions in August 2017 and the European Union in November 2017.”
Giving information about the country’s economy, Mondello said that Venezuela’s gross domestic product shrank 5.7 % in 2015 and another 18.6 % in 2016.
“At the same time, inflation topped 180% in 2015 and 800 percent in 2016. Oil production, the lifeblood of the Venezuelan economy, had fallen to two million barrels per day by the end of 2016, a level not seen since 1990.
“It is Maduro and his backers, not sanctions, who are to blame for the millions of Venezuelans living in dire economic conditions and who have fled their homes since he assumed power,” Mondello said.
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A MENOS QUE se celebren elecciones libres y justas en Venezuela, sus ciudadanos seguirán sufriendo inmensamente.
Así lo dijo el embajador de Estados Unidos en Trinidad y Tobago, Joseph Mondello, quien emitió un comunicado el miércoles tras la deportación y retorno de los refugiados venezolanos en los últimos días.
Mondello dijo: “Hasta que el pueblo venezolano disponga de elecciones libres y justas bajo la atenta mirada de respetables observadores internacionales, el status quo continuará.
“Los refugiados, las armas, las pandillas y las drogas que se originan en Venezuela continuarán plagando la región hasta que la democracia regrese al pueblo venezolano”.
Agregó que el gobierno de Estados Unidos continuará trabajando con Trinidad y Tobago para ayudar a mitigar las consecuencias de la crisis.
“Esperamos con ansias el día en que los venezolanos se sientan lo suficientemente seguros y protegidos para regresar a casa y reconstruir su país en lugar de buscar refugio en otro lugar”, dijo Mondello.
Mondello sostuvo que no se debe culpar las sanciones Estadounidenses por la situación de Venezuela, sino al régimen de Nicolás Maduro.
Dijo: “La responsabilidad de la crisis humanitaria en Venezuela radica directamente en las políticas fallidas y los abusos del régimen de Maduro.
“En septiembre, la Misión Independiente de Investigación de las Naciones Unidas sobre Venezuela documentó que desde 2014, mucho antes de que la actual OEA (Organización de Estados Americanos) y el liderazgo Estadounidense asumieran el cargo, las autoridades venezolanas bajo Maduro han cometido graves violaciones de derechos humanos y crímenes en violación del derecho internacional, incluidas ejecuciones extrajudiciales, tortura, detenciones arbitrarias y uso excesivo de la fuerza”.
