MEDIA ADVISORY

CODEPINK to protest Trump’s declaration that Juan Guaido is the Interim President of Venezuela, Wednesday, January 23, 6:30pm in front of Venezuela embassy, Thursday, January 24, 1pm in front of White House

Contact:

Medea Benjamin | CODEPINK co-founder | medea.benjamin@gmail.com | 415 235 6517

Jodie Evans | CODEPINK co-founder | heartofj@gmail.com | 310 621 5635

January 23, 2019 - Adding to the horror of a coup in Venezuela, we are appalled that Trump has appointed himself dictator of world, empowered to decide who is president of a sovereign country. No one in a democratic country, especially not the media, should be supporting Trump’s unilateral action to declare Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela,” said CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans.

Earlier today, Donald Trump tweeted that he recognized Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaido as the “Interim President of Venezuela” despite Nicolas Maduro being democratically elected & sworn in for a second term in May.

All of this comes as Venezuela is facing an economic crisis caused in part by falling oil prices and broad U.S. sanctions. In November 2018, the Congressional Research Service published a short overview of current U.S. sanctions in Venezuela. The report states that: “Analysts are concerned that stronger sanctions could exacerbate Venezuela’s difficult humanitarian situation, which has been marked by shortages of food and medicines, increased poverty, and mass migration. Many Venezuelan civil society groups oppose sanctions that could worsen humanitarian conditions.”

“Trump’s declaration that Juan Guaido is the Interim President of Venezuela is not dissimilar to his action to declare, in violation of international law and world consensus, Jerusalem the capital of Israel. It flies in the face of democracy and diplomatic international relations” said CODEPINK national co-director Ariel Gold.





