MIAMI _ Venezuela's opposition leader, Juan Guaido, seen as the legitimate president of Venezuela by the U.S. and more than 55 other countries, is scheduled to visit Miami on Saturday as part of his international tour aimed at shoring up support in the fight against the Nicolas Maduro regime, said his ambassador to the U.S., Carlos Vecchio.
It is not yet known if the Venezuelan leader will stop in Washington during his visit to the U.S. or if he is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump, his most important international ally.
"Venezuelans and Latin Americans in Miami, let's accompany President @jguaido in Miami before his return to Venezuela. Let's make history," Vecchio announced through his Twitter account.
The visit to Miami is being planned as a meeting between Guaido and the Venezuelan community living in South Florida, where most Venezuelans in the U.S. live.
The different alternatives that had been contemplated by Guaido's team for his trip to the U.S. included a visit to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump only, a visit to the capital to see Trump and then a stop in Miami, and a trip to Miami with the possibility of Trump flying down to meet him.
Trump was the first president to recognize Guaido as legitimate ruler when the opposition leader, as president of the National Assembly, swore himself in as Venezuela's interim president in January 2019, after the Venezuelan Congress declared that Maduro had usurped the presidency.
Since then, more than 50 other nations have followed suit, but the Trump administration has provided the greatest degree of support to the efforts to force Maduro from power.
Guaido, who was in Canada on Tuesday, started his international tour on Jan. 19, when defying the risk of detention, he left Venezuela and met in Bogota with Colombian President Ivan Duque, and the following day with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The opposition leader later traveled to Europe, where he participated in Davos at the World Economic Forum, before meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In Canada, he met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
