“The opposition is taking stock of where it stands and realizing that the interim government experiment didn’t pan out,” said Geoff Ramsey, the director for Venezuela at WOLA, a Washington-based advocacy organization.
He added that the interim government has increasingly become less relevant in Caracas, the capital, and more relevant in Washington. “I think over time the interim government outlived its usefulness and that’s why we’re seeing the Venezuelan opposition looking for new ways to restructure itself,” he said.
The administrations of several new leftist governments in South America have also begun to soften their approach toward Mr. Maduro.
Bolivia resumed normal relations with Venezuela after the election of Luis Arce in 2020. Peru did the same last year following the election of Pedro Castillo, who was ousted this month after he tried to dissolve the Peruvian Congress. Earlier this year, President Alberto Fernández of Argentina said he would follow a similar path.
Most recently Gustavo Petro, the newly elected leftist president of Colombia, a nation that for years has been the strongest ally of the United States in Latin America, re-established diplomatic relations and trade with Mr. Maduro’s government, marking a new chapter in the global approach with Venezuela.
In an interview with The New York Times at his home in Caracas last year, Mr. Guaidó said that unrelenting government persecution had dismantled his entourage and targeted his family. His chief of staff and his uncle had both spent months in detention. Most of his advisers and close relatives had fled the country.
“The worst thing,” he added, thinking of his toddler daughter, “is having to explain to a child why the police follow her.”
He continued: “This has been a great sacrifice, but I’d repeat it a thousand times.”
Isayen Herrera reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Julie Turkewitz from Bogotá, Colombia. Genevieve Glatsky contributed reporting from Bogotá.
