Guaidó Meets with Foreign Leaders While Defying Travel Ban

The interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Bogotá, Colombia, on January 20. It began a week-long international tour that would end at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Al Jazeera reports that Colombian President Iván Duque welcomed Guaidó to the country by saying, “We are honored by your presence.” He further noted that Guaidó would “always have a friend in Colombia."

At the meeting, Pompeo called Venezuela a “failed state” and reaffirmed U.S. support of Guaidó and the Venezuelan people. Although he dismissed discussions of sanctions, Pompeo warned that “everyone can fully expect that the US is not done.”

By leaving the country, Guaidó defied a travel ban imposed on him by Venezuelan courts over a year ago after he declared himself acting president. This is the second time he has defied the order, the first being last February when he tried to force humanitarian aid to Venezuelans amidst a blockade by Maduro, according to the Washington Post. Although recognized by more than 50 countries around the world, including the United States and its allies, Guaidó has failed to completely replace Maduro. Maduro continues to retain his power in Caracas and is backed by Russia, China, and the Venezuelan military.

After his meeting in Bogotá, Guaidó traveled to London, where he met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Like Pompeo, Johnson also demonstrated U.K. support for Guaidó, denouncing “what the regime of [Nicolás] Maduro is doing to threaten democracy."

On January 22, Guaidó visited Brussels and, while speaking to the European Parliament, called on the EU to increase pressure on Maduro’s government through increased sanctions. Currently, while the U.S. maintains an oil embargo on Venezuela as well as individual restrictions on government figures, AP News reports that Europe has also enacted its own sanctions, renewed through November 2020. The European Union had been one of the first to recognize Guaidó’s presidency, but a veto by Italy in February 2019 prevented the Union from issuing an official statement supporting the interim administration.

In Brussels, EU Minister for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell reiterated his “firm support” for Guaidó’s “only democratically elected body in Venezuela” and advocated for a "peaceful and democratic" solution of the crisis.

According to BBC, police forces challenged Guaidó’s position as leader of the National Assembly in January by attempting to block Guaidó and his supporting lawmakers from entering elections for Speaker for 2020 of the National Assembly. Despite Guaidó’s reelection by a majority of lawmakers at an alternative location, opponent Luis Parra claims to be the legitimate Speaker

Reuters reports that Guaidó expects his return to Caracas to be “risky” and dangerous, yet he remains determined to unseat Maduro, especially after the administration attempted to prevent him from being reelected as the head of the opposition earlier this month.