Elliott Abrams: "I told the Russians that today we are not following a military path for Venezuela, but that it will be evaluated in the future"

The United States Special Representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, arrived in the United States from Rome this morning, after having maintained a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Riabkov to discuss the Venezuelan crisis. Without a concrete agreement in hand, the Trump official revealed pbadages from this conversation which, he said, was very clear. "The Russians do not say the stupidities of Maduro, as in Venezuela, there is no hunger," he said to illustrate the tone of the meeting.

The United States was the first country to recognize Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela. Since then, they have reinforced the imposition of sanctions to surround the Maduro regime. On the other hand, Vladimir Putin's government has strengthened ties with Chavez and has even started sending products and products to relieve international pressure. Abrams went to Rome to communicate the "suggestions" of the United States to the Russians. "I explained to them that they would never recover their investments if Maduro continued to manage the economy, that they knew that if they wanted to protect their interests, with him, it would not happen again. was impossible, "he said.

"After talking to them, My impression is that they support Maduro but they realize the Venezuelan situation. Maduro continues to say that everything is the fault of the United States, but the Russians know that the crisis is very serious ", badyzed the North American official during a videoconference with a group of international journalists, which Infobae participated.

In addition,He warned the vice-chancellor of Russia that at this moment, the United States "do not plan an invasion, but everything is on the table". In fact, he revealed that he insisted on this concept: "Today, we do not follow the military path, but in the future, it will be evaluated".

Abrams called the conversation "very interesting" and explained that it lasted two hours. He explained that he had tried to explain to them that their interests – investments or loans – would never be recovered if they supported Chavez. "The regime could never pay its debts to Russia or China, so a political change is necessary for them too."

For Abrams, the American strategy works, even if Maduro seems to hang on to power: "If we look back, from December to today, the unity of the opposition that did not exist, 54 democratically influential countries support Guaidó and not Maduro, the sanctions are more numerous and more severe … The current situation is much more difficult Mature and diet. We believe in the politics of Guaidó and the National Assembly and we will continue in this way ".

The Trump leader was optimistic and even, He compared the situation of Venezuela with the Tunisian or Egyptian situation during the Arab Spring. "As in the case of Ben Ali or Hosni Mubarak, many diets seemed very stable a week before falling …".

Abrams said that the sanctions will continue and promised that there would be more "every week or almost every day" because the American goal, he explained, is to "support the Venezuelans".

"The level of the crisis is increasing and the vast majority of Venezuelans clearly want a change, leave Maduro … We have not reached this point yet because he and his team want to stay to steal more and avoid the consequences of their flights and actions in recent years, "he said.

The regime could never pay its debts to Russia and China. A political change is therefore necessary for them too.

Abrams has also asked the Lima group, the European Union and the UN to react energetically to this type of abuse. "The regime fears the international reaction to a possible detention of Guaidó and he is acting against his team, so we must react immediately, otherwise there will be more attacks against their team".he advanced.

On the possibility that Spain is trying to mediate for a new dialogue – the former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero went to Venezuela on Monday – the US official did not want to Extend, but ruled out the possibility: "Finally, a negotiation will eventually be necessary, but among Venezuelans, a mediation is something else, I do not see it." He added: "In Spain, they realize that there is a side where people are and that there is a dictatorship on the other side ".

"We have the impression of being won, Guaidó is getting stronger," he said.