President Joe Biden called Juan Guaidó from Air Force One on his way to Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas on Wednesday after declining to invite the Venezuelan opposition leader to participate, a source familiar with the matter told McClatchy.
The president emphasized that the United States continues to recognize Guaidó as the interim president of the country as its last democratically elected leader, according to officials, and “discussed the role the United States and other international partners can play to support a negotiated solution to Venezuela’s crisis.”
“President Biden reaffirmed the United States is willing to calibrate sanctions policy as informed by the outcomes of negotiations that empower the Venezuelan people to determine the future of their country,” the White House said.
Guaidó is expected to take part in events around the summit virtually, without being a full participant, U.S. officials said. Venezuela’s ruling government, led by Nicolás Maduro, was not invited to the California event, either.
“While the interim government was not invited to participate in the main summit, they are welcome to participate in all three stakeholder forums and other events,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
On Air Force One en route to the summit, Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters that the United States “continues to recognize Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela” and confirmed Biden would be speaking with him.
“We thought the best way to lift up our desire to see that Venezuelan-led dialogue, and ultimately a better future for the Venezuelan people, was to focus on the invitations to Venezuelan civil society activists, who will participate in various aspects of the summit,” Sullivan said.
The Biden administration struggled for months over who to invite to the summit, negotiating with leaders in the region who advocated for the autocratic governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to be included.
While the administration ultimately decided not to invite them – leading the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico to send their foreign ministers in their stead – Sullivan told reporters that their lack of participation would not affect the work of the summit, including the adoption of a signature declaration on migration.
The United States is joined by roughly 60 other nations in recognizing Guaidó as the nation’s interim president. But support for the opposition leader has faltered over the last year as negotiations with Maduro came to a halt, and as the strongman tightened his grip on power.
Sullivan said the administration is encouraging the two sides to return to negotiations in Mexico City and kept the door open to additional sanctions relief on the Maduro regime if the talks result in “meaningful traction.”
“We’re prepared to take steps if they take steps, but it has to be action for action,” Sullivan said.
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