The Hard-Line Venezuelan Opposition’s Attempts to
Rectify its Mismanagement of CITGO and other Venezuela Assets Abroad that were Handed
over to them. The Inter-American Dialogue, a centrist Washington-based think
tank, asked me to contribute to a symposium on the topic. Here is my
contribution that they published today in their newsletter “Latin America
Advisor.”
The decision of the opposition-led National
Assembly to extend Juan Guaidó’s mandate and to create mechanisms to halt the
corruption and mismanagement associated with his parallel government is
predicated on a false assumption. The deputies of the opposition National
Assembly assume that Guaidó is widely viewed as the nation’s legitimate
president and that regime change is just around the corner.
Nothing could be
further from the truth. Developments since Guaidó proclaimed himself president
exactly three years ago, including regime change plots ending in fiascos and
denunciations of corruption, have resulted in a steady erosion of support among
his allied parties, within the opposition as a whole, in the region, and world-wide.
Thus, the U.N. General Assembly’s vote in December on recognition of the Maduro
government was 177 in favor and only 16 against, meaning that the vast majority
of the 58 nations that had recognized Guaidó as the legitimate president no
longer do so. At the same time, Julio Borges, who was one of Guaidó’s staunchest
supporters resigned as his foreign minister and declared that the interim
government was nothing but a top-heavy bureaucracy. For Borges, Guaido’s
interim government should “disappear” with the exception of the management of
foreign assets, which should be administered more efficiently. Nevertheless, without
a legitimate “interim” president, the opposition has no justification for controlling
Venezuela’s foreign holdings. Moreover, with the implosion of Guaidó’s
popularity and his loss of recognition as the nation’s legitimate president,
the mismanagement of the multi-billion dollar assets that were turned over to
him may be a foregone conclusion.