The Venezuelan opposition probably did not need that. Suspicions of corruption weigh on MPs close to Juan Guaido, further weakening the strategy of the leader of the opposition to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
In a survey published Sunday 1st December, the Venezuelan news site Armando. info says nine opposition MPs, supported by Juan Guaido, have intervened in favor of a Colombian businessman, Carlos Lizcano. Mr. Lizcano is linked to the Clap program, set up by the government of Nicolas Maduro to provide food at very low prices to the most needy.
It would, according to Armando. info, in the service of two other Colombian entrepreneurs, Alex Saab and Alvaro Pulido, targeted by US sanctions for overbilling imports of food for Clap. US justice accuses the two men of laundering money from Clap.
According to the investigation ofArmando. infoOpposition MPs allegedly contacted the Colombian and US authorities to ask that they show themselves "Lenient" towards Carlos Lizcano, claiming that the latter had nothing to do with the illegal affairs of Alex Saab and Alvaro Pulido.
Juan Guaido weakened
"I will not allow corruption to jeopardize everything we have sacrificed"Juan Guaido responded on Twitter. "Corruption can not be tolerated"he told a news conference, announcing a parliamentary commission of inquiry. But these suspicions against MPs dedicated to his cause are a new blow to his strategy.
It is by virtue of his position as president of the unicameral Parliament, where the opposition has the majority, that Juan Guaido proclaimed himself acting president on 23 January. He believes that the 2018 presidential election that allowed Nicolas Maduro to remain in power was tainted by fraud.
Acknowledged as interim president by some 50 countries, including the United States, Juan Guaido says since January use " all means " to arrive at his ends. In April, he called in vain for the uprising of the army, but the staff remained loyal to Nicolas Maduro. And the latter enjoys the support of Cuba, Russia and China.
The anti-Maduro protests – one of the levers that Juan Guaido used the most to put pressure on power – ran out of steam. His last big call to march on November 16 was attended by only a few thousand people in Caracas, while the demonstrations at the beginning of the year drained tens of thousands of Venezuelans.
Criticized strategy
And the suspicions of corruption carried by Armando. info are not the only ones to touch those around him. On Friday, the opponent sacked Humberto Calderon Berti, his diplomatic representative in Colombia, a country that recognizes Juan Guaido as interim president.
In the wake, Calderon Berti accused Juan Guaido's envoys of misusing funds to help 148 Venezuelan soldiers who deserted in Colombia in February. "The Colombian authorities alerted me and showed me documents that talked about prostitutes, alcohol, a lot of abuse"said Calderon Berti to the press, without accusing anyone by name. He also exonerated Juan Guaido of any wrongdoing.
At the same time, the main opposition parties, Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, Juan Guaido's party, excluded from the commissions to which they belonged in Parliament five deputies, whose names appeared in Armando's article. info.
But these suspicions of scandal scratch the image of Juan Guaido, one of the stakes of which is the "Fight against the corruption of the regime". On January 5, his term as head of Parliament expires. However, it is by availing himself of this title that he proclaimed himself acting president. Although there is some consensus in Parliament to keep it in office, some minority groups openly criticize its strategy to oust Nicolas Maduro. Others have engaged in negotiations with the head of state.
