"The situation is difficult. The sanctions are tough for the common people," Camacaro said. "In spite of that, you don’t see demonstrations and don’t hear criticism against the government. People are realizing that the sanctions are affecting the economy and most of the people are blaming Donald Trump and the United States administration",
Camacaro explained that less than a month ago he returned from Venezuela, where he witnessed a determination among Venezuelan people to cope with the bad economic situation and organize exchanges of goods and services without using any currency.
"They organize exchanges of food and services. I don’t see any big issues arising from the inside [of the country]", Camacaro said.
The problem Venezuela faces is that the country’s opposition does not have the capacity to do anything and the US government is effectively the opposition, Camaro explained.
Most people did not know opposition leader Juan Guaido when he proclaimed himself interim president of Venezuela in January, Camacaro noted.
"Despite that, Guaido was in National Assembly. A lot of people didn’t know how to pronounce his name", Camaro said
Moreover, the public seems to hate Guaido, especially after a scandal emerged regarding the abuse of millions of dollars the opposition received supposedly as an aid for Venezuela.
"A lot of people are angry, upset about that. That's why you don't see huge demonstrations in support of Guaido", Camacaro said.
Camacaro claimed that during the May Day celebration, some 150,000 people showed up for the pro-Maduro demonstration, while only 3,000 showed up at the pro-Guaido gathering.
"I don't think he has any possibility to win any an election in Venezuela, especially after all that's been happening in the last six months. He's just a member of the National Assembly," Camacaro said.
Venezuela is experiencing a political-economic crisis that intensified in January after Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust Maduro. The United States recognized Guaido and started imposing sanctions on Venezuela and freezing billions of dollars of Venezuela’s assets.
Russia, which recognizes constitutionally-elected Maduro as the sole president of Venezuela, has said the United States is strangling the country with sanctions in an attempt to drag it into chaos and gain control of the world's largest oil and gas reserves.
Maduro has called Guaido a US puppet and accused the United States of orchestrating a coup in Venezuela to force a change of government and claim the country’s vast petrochemical resources.
