Joe Biden sidelines Venezuela's pro-democracy leader from Summit of the Americas

It's not just foreign pressure that has Biden wary of inviting Juan Guaidó

A little more than two years ago, Juan Guaidó was showered with bipartisan applause when President Donald Trump during his state of the union speech praised the Venezuelan opposition leader as a “very brave man" who carries on his shoulders the democratic hopes of an entire nation.

But in a sign of how far his political fate has fallen, and how quickly U.S. geopolitical calculations can shift, the 38-year-old wasn't even invited to this week's Summit of the Americas — despite the Biden administration's persistent promotion of democracy and insistence it recognises Mr. Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president.

Meanwhile, the man Mr. Guaidó has been trying to unseat, Nicolás Maduro, is taking something of a victory lap. On a rare foreign trip to Turkey this week, Mr. Maduro, who is the target of U.S. sanctions and a federal narcotics indictment, denounced the decision to exclude him and leftist allies from Cuba and Nicaragua from the gathering as a “stab” in the back of regional cooperation.

“This is a clear win for Mr. Maduro,” Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of Americas, said from Los Angeles, where he was attending the summit. “He's seen allies take up his cause at the summit while preventing his primary rival, whom Washington recognises as president, from attending.” In what may be an attempt at damage control, Mr. Biden on Wednesday spoke with Mr. Guaidó for the first time.

But coming on the heels of weeks of silence from the White House about whether Mr. Guaidó would be invited or not, the call, which lasted around 17 minutes, provided little comfort to Venezuela's pro-democracy movement.

“We don't want to be seen as party crashers going where we aren't wanted,” said one Mr. Guaidó envoy on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic dealings.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan downplayed suggestions the U.S. was snubbing a staunch ally.