Interview/ Mercedes Baptista Guevara, attorney and diplomat
Mercedes Baptista Guevara is an attorney and diplomat based in Spain. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, she closely follows political developments in the Latin American country. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Guevara discusses the current political situation in Venezuela, the role of the United States, Europe’s cautious response, and the future of other countries in the region that are in Donald Trump’s crosshairs, such as Cuba, Colombia and Mexico. Excerpts:
Q/ What is your assessment of Maduro’s ouster? What impact will it have on Venezuela?
A/ The impact will be positive. Many of the six million Venezuelans who left the country because of the regime’s cruelty will return.
Q/ President Donald Trump has suggested that the US will “run” Venezuela and rebuild its oil infrastructure to recoup costs. Are you concerned that this level of direct US involvement might undermine the sovereignty of a future democratic government?
A/ At the moment, no one really knows what will happen with the new government. It appears to be highly provisional. The new president, Delcy Rodríguez, is extremely close to Maduro.
Q/ With Rodríguez currently acting as interim president and claiming that the US has “kidnapped” Maduro, how serious do you think the risk of domestic civil conflict is?
A/ Rodríguez is not someone who can be trusted. There are rumours that she was the person who demanded the $50 million reward [for information leading to Maduro’s capture], and that she facilitated intelligence about where Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were hiding.
Q/ What role could Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado and opposition leader Edmundo González play? Does it concern you that the US administration has expressed scepticism about their domestic support?
A/ Machado and González are extremely important and are playing the right role. I believe the Trump administration’s scepticism is merely a strategic posture. Rodríguez has no real power and is essentially a temporary puppet.
Q/ Can a criminal trial in New York deliver the justice Venezuelans have sought for years?
A/ A trial in the United States is the only way to finally rid Venezuela of a dictator who completely destroyed the country’s justice system. Justice in Venezuela disappeared under Chávez and Maduro. There are around 800 political prisoners who have been tortured, deprived of food, denied basic rights and held for years in appalling conditions simply because they think differently from the dictator.
Q/ How do you view the contrast between the US administration’s forceful intervention and Europe’s more cautious, legalistic response?
A/ Europe is deeply divided. For example, there are allegations that the current Spanish government is implicated in illegal activities involving Maduro and his associates. There is strong evidence of close links to illegal gold trading and trafficking involving former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is reportedly a partner of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government in deeply troubling activities. Reports by the respected NGO SOS Orinoco describe horrific abuses in southern Venezuela, where indigenous communities are tortured and killed to extract information about the location of gold and other precious metals.
Q/ Is Venezuela trading a socialist autocracy for a foreign-managed protectorate?
A/ Personally, I feel reassured by the US presence, particularly the deployment of naval and air forces in the Caribbean to control drug trafficking and monitor oil shipments that were being sent to Cuba free of charge in support of the Cuban government. Cutting off fuel supplies to Cuba may finally cause that fragile regime to collapse, which I see as good news.
Q/ Do you think Trump’s attention is now focused on countries such as Colombia, Cuba and Mexico?
A/ That statement was clearly a direct message to Colombia and Mexico. It could help resolve some of the region’s long-standing problems in what the US considers its own ‘backyard’.
Q/ Finally, what about the legality of American action in Venezuela?
A/ American action in Venezuela was the only remaining option after all attempts to negotiate with Maduro failed. The regime refused to halt drug trafficking, illegal gold extraction and unlawful oil trading—activities that benefited only a small group of individuals and not the Venezuelan people.