UPDATED JAN. 30
Venezuelan opposition leader and interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó has been on a world tour since last week — trying to rekindle international support for his effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro. His aides announced Miami will be the last stop on that tour before Guaidó returns to Venezuela.
Carlos Vecchio, Guaidó’s ambassador in Washington, said Guaidó will come to Doral on Saturday to meet with the Venezuelan community. Details of the visit will come later this week. UPDATE: Guaidó will appear at the Miami Airport Convention Center (711 NW 72nd Ave) on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 pm.
Since last week, Guaidó has traveled to Colombia, Europe and Canada urging world leaders to be tougher on Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist regime. It’s been a year since the U.S. and some 60 other countries recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president. But his movement has stalled.
It got a boost this week when Guaidó met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government said it wants to help “reinvigorate” the effort to restore democracy in Venezuela.
But even exiles in South Florida have begun to despair as they watch Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro survive deep U.S. economic sanctions.
Guaidó could face prison when he returns to Venezuela: He was officially barred from leaving the country before he snuck out last week. But his advisers insist the positive response he’s got on his tour — and the outpouring he’ll likely get in Miami — will make Maduro think twice about jailing him.
