The Cuban-American Republican congressman Carlos Giménez issued a strong warning this Saturday regarding the Venezuelan regime in two consecutive posts on X, in which he described the interim president Delcy Rodríguez as a "temporary dictator" and demanded that the ongoing negotiations not serve to legitimize a government he finds unacceptable.
"Let no one be deceived about who we are dealing with in Venezuela," Giménez wrote in his first post, in which he also pointed out that alongside Rodríguez "continues Diosdado Cabello, a fugitive from U.S. justice for drug trafficking."
The representative from Florida established non-negotiable minimum conditions for any agreement: "Our goal must be clear: to advance towards a free and democratic Venezuela, with a new Supreme Tribunal of Justice, a new National Electoral Council, independent institutions, and free, transparent, and verifiable elections. Nothing less will be acceptable."
Giménez also emphasized the role of the majority opposition in any political solution: "Millions of Venezuelans supported Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado and they must be a fundamental part of Venezuela's democratic future."
The congressman expressed his hope that negotiations between the regime and the representatives of the National Assembly elected in 2015 would continue in September and that they would "produce tangible progress towards a true democratic transition."
Minutes later, in a second post with a much more aggressive tone, Giménez warned that Rodríguez "knows that if he doesn't cooperate with Trump's orders, he will end up worse than Nicolás Maduro," and referred to the acting president being in charge of the government in Miraflores as a "grotesque mockery."
The statements come at a time of high political tension regarding Venezuela. The negotiation process between Rodríguez's government and a sector of the opposition —represented by Dinorah Figuera, with Machado excluded from the process— officially began on August 7 in La Carlota, Caracas, with support from Washington.
The first round concluded on August 12 with agreements on the renewal of the Supreme Court of Justice and assistance to the victims of the earthquakes from June 24, according to what was reported by chavismo and the opposition after that session.
The immediate background of Giménez's messages also includes the controversy generated this Saturday by a petroleum agreement announced by President Trump, which would open access for U.S. private companies to Venezuelan reserves.
The congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, also Cuban-American and Republican, initially criticized the agreement, stating that "any oil deal with the interim regime has an expiration date: the day President Trump leaves the White House," before clarifying her position as reported by the New York Post.
Giménez, who in April had already publicly demanded that Rodríguez hand Cabello over to U.S. authorities, did not directly comment on the oil agreement, but his general warning points to the same debate: how far Washington's understanding with the Chavista regime should go.
Cabello has faced formal charges since March 2020 in the Southern District of New York for conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and cocaine importation, and the U.S. is offering a reward of 25 million dollars for his capture.
"Venezuela will be free, and as we have said from the beginning: this struggle is until the end," Giménez concluded in his first post.
Related videos:
Filed under: