"If Maduro does not let in humanitarian aid, we will ask the army to open the road to Venezuela"

Carlos Vecchio he is the ambbadador appointed by Juan Guaidó before the United States. During the exclusive interview with InfobaeVecchio rejected the mediation of Pope Francisco, blamed Cuba for Nicolás Maduro's intransigence and asked China and Russia to support the democratic transition led by Juan Guaidó, Venezuela's interim president.

"The armed forces must be a tool to ease the transition," Vecchio said to the question of the main power factor that still governs Maduro.

– Faced with the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, when will the aid collected in Colombia, on the border with Brazil and Aruba, enter?
This is one of the priorities of the new interim President Juan Guaidó in Venezuela, and this is part of what we accomplished here as ambbadador to the United States: to create an international coalition to send humanitarian aid to Venezuela. The first shipment comes from the United States, but different countries, including Latin American countries, have expressed their willingness to help. We are in the process of storing our products at the border with Colombia. I emphasize this point: it will not be a single time, we consider it a process. The help required is very important and ongoing, so it's a long-term project.

Nicolás Maduro badured that humanitarian aid would not enter Venezuela. How do you imagine that help will be transferred from Cucuta in Colombia to San Cristobal in Venezuelan territory?
-There is a bridge and I think that at the moment there is a message to give also to our soldiers, that they will have to take a stand: to stand on the side of a dictatorship that goes nowhere and who does not care not the suffering of our people, or the side of the Constitution and the side of people who need food and medicine. And this is the call we are making to facilitate international aid, because ultimately our people need it.

-I posit a hypothesis: if Maduro continues to block the bridge that connects Cucuta to San Cristobal, you will ask the military to clear the way and allow humanitarian aid to enter Venezuela?
– Without a doubt. It is our approach to the armed forces, that they stand on the side of the Constitution and the people who need it. And what you just mentioned about the blockade in a certain way is what makes you understand that the worst punishment that Venezuela has at the moment is called Nicolás Maduro. That he does not care about our people, in order to retain the privileges of power, maintain his criminal state and his corruption, and feed the Cuban regime.

– I mean, will you bring medications and food to Venezuela, regardless of the method used?
-Get the food to arrive. The food arrives and the medicine arrives. And here our armed forces have a role to play …

– In this context, would it not be better to wait for the mediation of Pope Francis or is this way of negotiation already excluded?
– We do not agree with a false dialogue handled. Maduro has already done so in the past: he did it in 2014 (15, 16, 17, 18). We have participated in dialogues with the international community, without the international community, with the Vatican and without the Vatican, and every time. this prompted Maduro to manipulate to reduce pressure, to stay in power, and after each event, there were more political prisoners, less democracy and more economic and social crisis. We will not take part in a false dialogue, we must instead talk about when the Maduro regime will leave, the moment Maduro leaves power.

– So, President Guaidó rejects the mediation of Pope Francisco in the crisis of Venezuela …?
– I believe that it is not a problem of mediation, it is a problem of the one on the other side, which is mature. He never wanted to leave power. So what he does is manipulate and cheat. So it's not a mediation problem, it's not the mediation that failed, it's the position that the dictator had to use this tool to divide the opposition, to deceive the international community. Even these deceived the Vatican in 2016, and the Vatican sent them a letter informing them that they were withdrawing from the dialogue because Maduro had not held any of what he had promised to do. make.

– How is it possible to end the regime, form a transitional government and call free elections if Maduro insists on staying in power?
– Twenty days ago, there was nothing. And in twenty days, we have transformed the political reality of our country by taking three elements of pressure: one at the street level; we had mbadive demonstrations not only in the capital of Venezuela, but in all the capitals of Venezuela and in the cities of Venezuela. The street pressure will continue because it is a process led by Venezuelans. Second, a pressure from the institutional framework of the National Assembly. And thirdly, we have adopted this pressure, including at the international level. So there are three levels of struggle that work together and what we are looking for is the pressure needed to facilitate a peaceful transition process. And this effort must continue. We also told you that the armed forces must adhere to the Constitution, support the new Commander-in-Chief and be a tool or facilitator of the transition. This is the fight we are waging, that's what it's about, it generates the pressure needed on these three levels so that we can restore democracy in Venezuela.

– In Venezuela, there are many Cuban advisers and Maduro also enjoys the diplomatic and economic support of China and Russia. How is this situation dismantled?
– Well, that's why this process is so complex, because Nicolás Maduro does not make a decision for himself, he makes decisions with the Cuban regime, which prevented the resolution of the problem. If the Cubans were not there, that would be solved a long time ago. And that is why it is essential not only, for example, our mobilization in our country, but also the international support.

– And what will they do with China and Russia?
– We have said it very clearly: we wish to have serious and respectful relations with all countries. And we have asked China and Russia not to finance the Nicolás Maduro regime and not to give it political support, because it is time to think about the future, not the past. Therefore, our very clear message is that these countries understand that there is already a process of transition and that we are even willing to work with these countries in the framework of respect and mutual cooperation.