Venezuelan opposition to US: Being weak on Maduro regime will bring more migrants
MIAMI - The Independent Venezuelan American Citizens Organization (IVAC), based in South Florida and other activists are calling on President Biden's government to demand Maduro's regime respect for the opposition's primary elections.
"We elected Maria Corina Machado by 97% of the vote, what happens... comes Maduro regime and wipes out completely the primaries," said Ernesto Ackerman, Director of IVAC.
Maria Corina Machado, 56, the opposition leader who said we will bury socialism in 2024, is not authorized to run against Nicolas Maduro in next year's presidential elections in spite of the fact that the Biden Administration removed sanctions placed on the Nicolas Maduro's regime.
The suspensions included licenses for oil exports, gold mining, and debt trading. They also enable deportation or repatriation flights from the US to Venezuela.
The announcement was made a day after representatives of President Maduro and the opposition signed an agreement in Barbados. The government also released five political prisoners that night.
"We are asking the government of President Biden to put again back these sanctions and do more sanctions," said Eckerman at a press conference in Doral. This is the city with the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S.
Cuban and Venezuelan activists gathered in Doral said, "Caracas follows orders from Havana."
"The struggle for freedom for people in Venezuela is the struggle for the freedom of Cuba; it's the same regime that is repressing Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba," said Orlando Gutierrez from the Assembly of Cuban Resistance, a South Florida Organization.
Gutierrez's message for D.C. was, "The weaker the United States is with Maduro, the more refugees you'll have in the United States."
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, almost 335,000 Venezuelans entered illegally through the southern border in the fiscal year 2023, which ended in September. That same month, a record figure of Venezuelans crossed the border, more than 73,000 only in September.
The presidential elections in Venezuela are scheduled to be held on the last quarter of 2024. Maduro seeks to be reelected again.
