USA: We Do Not Recognize the Results of the Venezuelan Presidential Election

On Sunday, May 19, the United States announced that it does not recognize the results of the Venezuelan presidential election. According to Reuters, Washington is actively considering the issue of oil sanctions against Venezuela, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan stated on Sunday that the topic of the Venezuelan elections will be discussed at the G20 meeting scheduled for Monday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, hopes to win the election on Sunday, which has been boycotted by opposition parties, and remain in office for another six years. The results of this election are expected to be announced by Sunday evening, Venezuelan time. Mr. Sullivan stated that the U.S. wants to ensure that the corrupt regime officials of Venezuela are targeted, not the people of the country. He added: 'We do not want Venezuela to be harmed in a way that would make recovery difficult after a democratic government is established in the country.' He deemed oil sanctions as a 'very important' step and mentioned that these sanctions are under consideration. The Venezuelan presidential election has faced not only a boycott from opposition parties but has also been heavily criticized by the U.S., Europe, and many Latin American countries. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that 'a sham election changes nothing. The people of Venezuela must take control of their country.' He also called for the release of Joshua Holt, an American religious missionary who was arrested by the Venezuelan government in 2016 on charges of conspiracy against the government. The U.S. has already sanctioned several senior Venezuelan officials and blocked the country's ability to borrow from the U.S. financial system. On Friday, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Diosdado Cabello, the head of the Venezuelan Socialist Party and the second-in-command of the government after Maduro. He has been accused of being involved in drug trafficking from Venezuela alongside other sanctioned individuals. 20 million people are eligible to vote in the Venezuelan presidential election. Many in the country blame the government for the crisis of food, medicine, power outages, water shortages, and rising crime rates. The oil sanctions against Venezuela come as the country faces difficulties attracting foreign investment and technology due to its failure to repay overdue debts to international companies. According to the latest OPEC report, the country's daily oil production fell by about 50% last month compared to 2016, dropping to 1.43 million barrels. Venezuela's oil production has been continuously declining for months. The country is suffering from a deep economic crisis, with inflation rates estimated by the International Monetary Fund to have reached around 14,000%.