Venezuelan party thanks Israel for recognition, urges Jews to return to country

Maria Corina Machado, the national coordinator of Vente Venezuela, a center-right party that backs Juan Guaido for interim president of Venezuela against the sitting president Nicolas Maduro, issues a heartfelt thank you to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for recognizing Guaido and urges the Jewish community to return to the embattled country.

The comments come in an English-language video Machado gave to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

Exclusive:: Senior figure in Venezuela Opposition @MariaCorinaYA tells @kann_news: |People in Venezuela want to restore the ties between Israel/Venezuela; The Jewish community has a leading roll in building the country – we hope who ever left will come back" pic.twitter.com/p7oPla2SVe

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 28, 2019

Her comments, in full:

On behalf of the people of Venezuela, I would like to thank Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of the State of Israel, for his recognition of Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.

Prime Minister Netanyahu joins our many allies in the hemisphere and the world in welcoming Venezuela back to the bloc of western democratic nations that oppose despots and oppression. We certainly have a common enemy with Israel: the criminal forces that undermine freedom and peace in the world.

Venezuela was one of the nations that back in 1947 in the General Assembly of the United Nations supported Resolution 181 that led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Since then, we’ve had good and strong diplomatic relations. That’s why we, the Venezuelan people, look forward to the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.

I want to reaffirm the valuable contribution the Jewish community has given to the development of Venezuela through decades. And even though many have been forced to leave our country, we want and expect that they come back to rebuild our nation.

Venezuela’s reconstruction will require strong support and involvement in areas such as medicine, security, rural development and technology, where Israel can be a genuine partner. I want to express how meaningful it was for the Venezuelan people that this recognition [by Netanyahu] for the genuine government of Venezuela came precisely on the day of Holocaust recognition [January 27].

I myself look forward to visiting the state of Israel as soon as we [acquire] our freedom. We will prevail.