WASHINGTON: Leading Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido said on Wednesday he feared he “could meet the same fate” as Alexei Navalny if he returned to his homeland, invoking the jailed Russian political dissident.
Guaido, who arrived in the United States last month from Colombia, made the comments during a forum at the Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington.
“If you ask me if I can return tomorrow to Venezuela, as I did in 2019 and 2020, or as Navalny did (to Russia), I’m sure I could meet the same fate” as him, Guaido said.
Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro staged a protest at the event, interrupting the forum with chants of “Guaido is a liar.”
Guaido, while not shunned in Washington, has seen his star fall from the days when he was recognized by the United States as Venezuela’s rightful leader.
Though Guaido has said he has meetings lined up with members of Congress, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters he wasn’t aware of plans for the opposition politician to meet with the Biden administration.
Guaido came to the United States after he says he was expelled from Colombia, a charge Bogota denies.
He had shown up in Colombia — after entering illegally, the country’s president said — for an international conference on Venezuela that neither he nor Maduro were invited to.
Guaido told the Wilson Center that his wife and two daughters have since joined him in the United States. It was not immediately clear whether he was seeking to claim asylum.
Officially, he has been banned from leaving Venezuela since 2019, and stands accused by authorities of treason.
That year, the United States and more than 50 other countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s leader after disputed 2018 elections, despite Maduro remaining in power.
Guaido led a symbolic interim government from 2019 until January this year when it was disbanded by the fractured Venezuelan opposition.
Guaido, who arrived in the United States last month from Colombia, made the comments during a forum at the Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington.
“If you ask me if I can return tomorrow to Venezuela, as I did in 2019 and 2020, or as Navalny did (to Russia), I’m sure I could meet the same fate” as him, Guaido said.
Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro staged a protest at the event, interrupting the forum with chants of “Guaido is a liar.”
Guaido, while not shunned in Washington, has seen his star fall from the days when he was recognized by the United States as Venezuela’s rightful leader.
Though Guaido has said he has meetings lined up with members of Congress, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters he wasn’t aware of plans for the opposition politician to meet with the Biden administration.
Guaido came to the United States after he says he was expelled from Colombia, a charge Bogota denies.
He had shown up in Colombia — after entering illegally, the country’s president said — for an international conference on Venezuela that neither he nor Maduro were invited to.
Guaido told the Wilson Center that his wife and two daughters have since joined him in the United States. It was not immediately clear whether he was seeking to claim asylum.
Officially, he has been banned from leaving Venezuela since 2019, and stands accused by authorities of treason.
That year, the United States and more than 50 other countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s leader after disputed 2018 elections, despite Maduro remaining in power.
Guaido led a symbolic interim government from 2019 until January this year when it was disbanded by the fractured Venezuelan opposition.