Guaido expands shadow Venezuelan government

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has created an official shadow government coordinated by his prominent mentor Leopoldo Lopez to manage foreign affairs, economic development, debt restructuring, assets recovery and humanitarian aid to Venezuelan refugees.

Guaido, recognized by most Western governments as Venezuela's interim president, said his new "Government Center" will coordinate the activities of all officials named so far this year to ad hoc diplomatic and state-owned company posts worldwide.

Among the appointments is Julio Borges as presidential commissioner for foreign relations. Borges had been serving as Guaido's intermediary with the Lima Group of Latin American nations and Canada that coordinate actions in support of Venezuela's opposition. Borges' new diplomatic mandate is worldwide and elevates him above current ad hoc ambassadors in the US, UK, and other capitals in Europe and Latin America.

Alejandro Plaz, an electrical engineer, was named presidential commissioner for economic development. Javier Troconis is Guaido's presidential commissioner for assets recovery.

Humberto Prado was named commissioner for human rights and aid to victims; Miguel Pizarro and Manuela Bolivar for humanitarian assistance; Juan Andres Mejia and Jose Guerra for implementation of a national recovery strategy called the Country Plan; and political consultants Sergio Vergara and Juan Jose Rendon for strategy.

Guerra, a National Assembly deputy and former central bank economist who resides in Caracas, was stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this month. Guerra could not be reached and it is unclear if he remains in Venezuela where he faces possible arrest. The other presidential commissioners named by Guaido currently reside in Colombia and the US, mainly in the Miami area.

The appointments are the latest challenge to President Nicolas Maduro, whom most Western countries no longer recognize as Venezuela's legitimate head of state. Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, is recognized as interim president by Washington and more than 50 other countries. China, Russia, Turkey and Cuba continue to support Maduro.

State-owned companies whose ad hoc boards will be coordinated by the new Government Center led by Lopez include Houston-based oil refiner Citgo and its state-owned parent company PdV, petrochemicals producer Pequiven, CVG International's [aluminum and steel industries])https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/1963507-venezuelan-opposition-names-symbolic-metals-board?backToResults=true) and fertilizers company Monomeros Colombo-Venezolanos in Colombia.

Lopez, who had been jailed for five years in Venezuela until his escape into the Spanish diplomatic compound in late April, has long been seen as the strategic architect of Guaido's interim presidency, which is mostly directed from abroad. Lopez surfaced unexpectedly from his long imprisonment at dawn on 30 April to help lead a military uprising that was snuffed out within hours. Most of the new appointments unveiled today come from Lopez's Voluntad Popular and closely aligned Primero Justicia opposition parties. Other opposition groups, such as Maria Corina Machado's Vente Venezuela, are notably excluded.

It is unclear how Lopez would coordinate the parallel government from the Spanish diplomatic residence where he remains holed up. Lopez faces immediate arrest by Maduro's security forces if he leaves the compound.

Spanish oil company Repsol is one of PdV's leading partners in oil and natural gas development.

The Spanish government has warned Lopez at least once since he fled to the embassy last April not to engage in any Venezuelan political activities while he resides in its diplomatic territory.

An official at Spain's embassy in Caracas declined to comment, referring all questions to the foreign ministry in Madrid.