US negates legitimacy of Venezula's Nicolas Maduro as interim president

The United States on Tuesday said that it did not recognise Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate President of Venezuela, the White House said in a press release.

In the statement, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, "The United States continues to recognize the democratically elected 2015 National Assembly as the last remaining democratic institution in Venezuela, and we welcome the agreement reached to extend its authority."

Notably, the US recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela.

"We continue to call on Nicolas Maduro to make meaningful progress in the negotiations in Mexico with the Unitary Platform focused on the 2024 elections," Price said, as per the statement.

"Releasing an electoral calendar, reinstating candidates, and returning control of political parties to rightful leaders, updating the electoral registry, and allowing for international electoral observation missions are all crucial elements of this negotiation," the statement quoted Price as saying.

Price further said that the US continue to call on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 European Union Electoral Observation Mission to Venezuela, aimed at improving future electoral processes in line with international commitments on democratic elections.

The US will work with a broad range of Venezuelan and international partners to use all appropriate diplomatic and economic tools to press for the release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons, the independence of political parties, respect for freedom of expression and other universal human rights, and an end to human rights abuses, he added.

"We will engage with other members of the international community to foster conditions conducive to the conduct of free and fair elections in Venezuela, and to support the objectives of the negotiations in Mexico," Price said.

"The United States also supports efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people and bring the humanitarian crises in Venezuela to an end through international cooperation. Since 2017, the United States has provided more than USD 2.3 billion in humanitarian assistance both inside Venezuela and to Venezuelans forced to flee throughout the region," he added.

The Maduro regime's pattern of political repression and rampant human rights abuses, as well as severe restrictions on political and civil society actors and freedom of expression, have robbed the Venezuelan people of democratic self-determination. The US support the efforts of the Unitary Platform and other actors to establish democratic order and rule of law in Venezuela.

( With inputs from ANI )