Miami: The wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met Miami city leaders on Friday part of a multi-city tour to drum up support for her husband andopposition government aiming to oust dictator Nicolas Maduro.
"I have always asked God to protect the people of Venezuela, to give us the strength to go on." Gauido said in Spanish.
"Today, Venezuela can be a great example for the world, and I know that the results of Venezuela, which we will see very soon, will be an example for the nations of the world never go through what Venezuela is going through today."
Gauido received the key to Miami-Dade county presented by Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
"Let me say as mayor of Miami-Dade County, I'm very familiar with the plight of the Venezuelan people. " Said Gimenez, explaining how his Cuban roots exposed him to the more negative aspects of socialism, "We stand by the people of Venezuela."
Gauido recently visited Melania Trump and spoke of her meeting with the United States' first lady, "I am sure that the First Lady admires the Venezuelan women for their bravery." Said Gauido.
Amid power outages, food shortages and rolling blackouts, venezuela's dire conditions, fueled by what the opposition and many experts say is government corruption and mismanagement, have forced more than three million people to leave the country in recent years.
Many left behind struggle to afford supplies of food and medicine amid rampant inflation.
Maduro called previous aid shipments part of a coup attempt against him, and armed forces blocked assistance from entering during February clashes with protesters.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry as well as individuals linked to Maduro in an attempt to force him from power, and it now leads dozens of other countries in supporting Guaido's claim that Maduro's re-election last year was rigged.
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