The Biden administration position
Unnamed sources said that the Biden administration sought free and fair elections. In return, the US would remove sanctions on the country. The Trump administration will accept nothing less than Maduro resigning from power as president.
The U.S. will try to rebuild multilateral pressure on Maduro. It calls for the release of political prisoners and implement sanctions against officials guilty of corruption and human rights abuses, according to US officials.
Juan Guaido as interim president
Since January of 2019, the US has recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela as have numerous US allies. However, Guaido seems to have been unable to forge relations with president elect Joe Biden. Reportedly, he has been attempting to arrange a phone meeting since late this November but without success.
Within and without the country Guaido is losing power to such an extent that even US hawks are abandoning him as the head of a potential coup. Biden appears to abandon Trump policy altogether and work out a diplomatic solution with Maduro.
After Venezuela election Trump imposed new sanctions
On December 6, Venezuela held parliamentary elections. The US called the elections fraudulent and blacklisted two persons and a company involved in them. Maduro won in a landslide but some opposition parties boycotted the election and there was considerable criticism of the results. However, there were about 300 international observers who approved the results and rebuffed international critics.
Trump administration sanctions have worsened the already serious economic crisis and has devastated the civilian population causing many to flee the country. The US is also able to put pressure on any other countries who try to trade with Venezuela attempting to enforce their own sanctions as if they applied globally.
