This story is from Democracy Digest:

Free and fair presidential elections are the path out of Venezuela’s crisis. Because Mr. Maduro cannot be trusted to organize them, establishing the Council of State is an essential step, Abrams wrote for The Wall Street Journal. The Democratic Transition Framework paves the best path to a restoration of democracy through fair participation of all parties, and an end to the brutality, repression and political turmoil that have marked Venezuela’s recent past.

In an apparent softening of tone, Abrams told Reuters that while Maduro would have to step aside, the plan did not call for him to be forced into exile and even suggested that he “could theoretically run” in the election. Pompeo insisted that “Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela,” but said the administration hoped he would take the U.S. proposal seriously.

David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the deal was very similar to what was discussed by Maduro and Guaidó representatives in Oslo and Barbados last summer, with one major difference, the Guardian reports.

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