Carlos Vecchio said, “we need more time to include more Venezuelans” for Temporary Protected Status – and blasted Venezuela’s authoritarian regime.
By WLRN – Tim Padgett
Jun 2, 2022
The representative in the U.S. for Venezuela’s political opposition visited Miami this week to push efforts to help Venezuelan expats and refugees here – and the campaign to re-democratize their home country.
Carlos Vecchio is the ambassador to the U.S. for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó – whom the U.S. recognizes as Venezuela’s legitimate president, not authoritarian socialist President Nicolás Maduro.
Vecchio is visiting Miami, Houston and other U.S. cities with large Venezuelan populations to encourage more of them to take advantage of Temporary Protected Status. TPS, which President Biden granted Venezuelan expats last year, allows migrants from crisis-torn countries like Venezuela to remain legally in the U.S. for 18-month periods.
Vecchio said Guaidó is urging the Biden Administration to grant Venezuelans another 18 months after their current period ends in September.
“It’s a tremendous tool, and we are very grateful for this benefit,” Vecchio told WLRN at URBE University in Doral, the U.S.’s largest Venezuelan enclave, where he met with hundreds of expats on Wednesday.
“But we need more time to include more Venezuelans.”
An especially large wave of Venezuelan migrants came to the U.S. over the southern border last year. Vecchio said Guaidó is asking that more U.S. federal aid for refugees be used to help them, possibly administered through local governments like Miami-Dade County.
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