One of Venezuela’s opposition heavyweights called Sunday for an end to the country’s interim government that was formed in 2019 to try to oust President Nicolas Maduro, two weeks after a crushing defeat in regional elections.
“The interim government should disappear completely,” said Julio Borges, speaking from exile in Colombia.
He offered his resignation as foreign policy chief under opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself acting president in January 2019 with the support of dozens of other countries, forming a parallel administration.
Borges slammed the record of Guaido’s government, saying, “We must take steps to reform everything that has been called interim government… the interim government has been deformed.”
His call comes just two weeks after Maduro’s forces won a landslide victory, routing the divided opposition, which had parties on the ballot for the first time since 2017.
Borges is due to present his proposals on Tuesday before a commission made up of lawmakers who were part of the National Assembly while it was controlled by the opposition from 2016-2020.
The opposition had boycotted legislative elections in 2020 as well as a presidential vote in 2018 in which Maduro was reelected, which was not recognized by part of the international community.
“We have lost legitimacy, international support, because there have been too many contradictions, there have been too many mistakes, there have been too many scandals and that has made the world put the Venezuelan case on ice,” Borges said.
He urged the opposition to “rebuild and accumulate the strength to regain legitimacy within Venezuela and outside Venezuela,” criticizing as well the opposition’s management, especially of Venezuelan assets abroad by the “party of Guaido.”
Washington has entrusted the management of assets in the United States of the oil-rich South American country to Guaido.
“The subject of assets (outside Venezuela) is a real scandal,” Borges said, calling for “more clarity and transparency.”
Guaido did not immediately react to Borges’ statements.
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