WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2020) The United States has seen no indication that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wants to negotiate his exit, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in an interview.
"We've seen no indication, in spite of many conversations - the Norwegians led a conversation, other people from around the world have had a lot of conversations with those around Maduro," Pompeo said in the interview with Nora Gamez Torres of El Nuevo Herald and Miami Herald on Thursday. "We've seen no indication that he's prepared to permit there to be free and fair elections in Venezuela. That's the standard that we demand."
Pompeo said the United States will continue to work to achieve that goal.
"We don't know - just like we didn't know the precise date that the Soviet Union would fall, we don't know precisely when the Maduro regime will leave, but we know that day is coming," Pompeo said.
Pompeo's admission that the United States is working to oust Venezuela's elected president proves that Washington is running a deliberate campaign to destabilize the Latin American country in violation of international rules, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
In an interview with Colombia's Caracol tv on Monday, Pompeo said that getting Maduro to leave was the desired outcome of Washington's "project." He described the US backing of Juan Guaido, Venezuela's self-proclaimed president, as a strategy that was fundamentally working.
Pompeo also said that ousting Maduro was a collective effort by the United States and other countries, including US allies in Europe.
The United States' efforts to topple the Maduro government became pronounced last year after it recognized Guaido as interim president and imposed sanctions. US officials have said the sanctions were designed to exacerbate Venezuela's already acute economic crisis.
While the United States has expressed concerns over the humanitarian situation in Venezuela, a study released last May - co-authored by leading economist Jeffrey Sachs - concluded that the US sanctions have led to the death of some 40,000 Venezuelans since 2017.
