♪ kerry: these are the top stories. the u.s. has joined a growing list of countries imposing covid-19 restrictions on people arriving from china. it comes a day after beijing announced it would drop quarantine measures for all inbound travelers. our white house correspondent kimberly halkett has more. kimberly: the biden administration is concerned of the chinese government is not

being fully transparent, a concern that goes back to the start of the pandemic. as a result of the ease of recent restrictions in recent days, the u.s. says there is a spike of cases in china. kerry: ukraine's military says russian forces have stepped up military attacks in the city o 6 kherson. israel's incoming coalition government is promising to make expanding illegal is really settlements in the west bank a top priority. a statement says, "the jewish people have an unquestionable exclusive right to the whole land of israel. several western states in the u.s. are battling major flooding

days after severe winter storms struck north america. california, oregon and washington state have all been affected so far. the news continues here on al jazeera after "inside story." >> three years ago, juan guaido declared himself the leader of venezuela. nichas maduro remains in powe despite yes of sanctions. what is next for lettuce will? this is "inside story."

welcome to the program. i am imran khan a. venezuela's economy remains in deep difficulty after years of western sanctions. president maduro has stayed in power with support from china, russia, and cuba. juan guaido is on his way out after the opposition he claimed to lead rejected his leadership and interim government. we will be looking in more detail with our guests on how venezuela got to where it did, but this report on the economic difficulties its people face -- >> adriana garcia open her natural cosmetics shop in caracas, betting on venezuela's economic recovery, and she said

things have gone well so far. >> it's an economy in revision that is starting to grow again. there is a feeling of normality with commerce, and shopping centers have started to open again appeared -- open again a. >> it's given the economy a second wind when real gross to mystic product has shrunk almost 80% in almost a decade. dollars are everywhere these days. even food carts are listed in dollars. together with more favorable international geopolitics, this has allowed nicholas maduro to venture outside the country, shaking hands with leaders and confounding opponents.

meanwhile, the united states and other democraticies -- photos sw him at the top of his efforts to topple maduro. he remains undeterred. >> we need to bring this to a presidential election and strengthen the opposition to facilitate talks in mexico. it is not because the opposition is divided that maduro keeps the power. this is a dictatorship. >> maduro's regime has agreed to resume talks with the opposition in mexico and arrange for elections in 2024 in exchange for eased u.s. sanctions on the oil sector. maduro is hoping the economy will continue improving enough to give him a chance to win the

next presidential elections outright, especially if the opposition remains as divided as it is now, but e economists say the improvements have done little for the majority of venezuelans. >> maduro is trying to credit himself for the increase in economic activity. all they've done is cause inflation. it doesn't mean better conditions for those who go to public hospital or go to public services. >> for now, invading -- avoiding hyperinflation might be enough to offer opportunities to businesses like adriana's and the government more time to maneuver. imran: we will introduce our guests, but let's take a look at how venezuela reached this point. nicholas maduro was sworn in for a second term as president, but the opposition boycotted the 2018 elections, saying they were rigged. opposition leader juan guaido

declared himself interim president. the u.s. led 60 western and latin american countries in recognizing him as leader. maduro barred the u.s. and humanitarian aid and cut diplomatic ties. the trump administration replied with crippling sanctions. 5 million people were forced to leave. western allies gave guaido support of the country's foreign assets. most countries dropped their recognition of him as president last year, but the u.s. continues to recognize him. let's bring in our guests from caracas, the managing director of global sovereign advisory, a advisor ton president hugo chavez. in new york, vanessa nyman.

she's the former official representative of juan guaido in the united kingdom. from caracas, will gunston, a senior analyst at the international crisis group, a consultant on latin america. let's begin in new york with you, vanessa. your guy has failed. it's time to back a new one. vanessa: there was a joke about the interim government, it is not interim, nor does it govern. if this was not going to achieve its objectives, venezuela needed to get out of the maduro versus guaido dialectic and do something to benefit the people. i am not sure whether it is backing a new horse or finding a way to ease that suffering and bring infrastructure development, proper humanitarian

help, and not just in the way of handouts, but also things considered the basic to human development and human rights. that is where we need to go now. it is time to end the dialectic and find a solution for the venezuelan people. imran: what do you think of that? >> absolutely. the so-called interim government was set up as part of the regime change policy that was put back in the days of the trump administration, and clearly, that policy failed. it is time to move on a by on recognizing that interim government by the united states. it creates a lot of problems regarding, for instance, the

recognition of the government in the united states. it brings together a range of problems brought together by the existence of this irrelevant interim government. imran: phil gunston also in caracas, one of the key players is the united states. it is sticking to its guns. what is the point of that now? phil: there is no point. not only in terms of recognizing juan guaido as president of venezuela, but also the package of sanctions that trump imposed on with the maximum pressure

policy. this will make things easier. a lot of people, even people on the moderate side internationally and domestically, the opposition, have been reluctant to give maduro that prize without significant concessions on his side. that stems from an idea that te interim government is for the opposition. also in terms of the relationship. i think it has distanced the opposition leadership from the real concerns of venezuelans and caused a split within the opposition itself. imran: vanessa, these are very

strong personalities here. they are people with significant support. is there a compromise that leaves venezuela out of this? vanessa: i want to agree with some things phil gunston said and tamir said. i don't think nicholas maduro or juan guaido have support. there is an analysis that they won't make it out of the primaries. that's not for me to say. we will see as we approach the election. the pulling is bad for both sides. it's unclear who would emerge as a strong leader or option on either side. nicholas maduro would stay as leader for the regime. what is interesting about what happened with the recognition or the foreign assets, it's

instrumental, and gave no fewer than 19 witness statements in that case. a lot of the foreign assets even if juan guaido is not recognized , remember those assets are frozen. there is a scenario where that might remain frozen until there are free and fair elections. i do agree it has separated the opposition from the people. as you try to move forward and find a solution to the things we have been talking about, infrastructure development, finding a way to use the foreign

debt. in order to use that for projects, and perhaps maduro away from the russian influence, more towards the west -- to do that, you have to find a way -- they can't be isolated from the international community. what are you going to do? go to court in venezuela? you need to find a path, even as you find these solutions, there is a way you can still enforce it internationally. it doesn't provide investors

with any recourse, the type that you would need to. the solution would have to be something along those lines, and it is a rubik's cube of complexity. imran: we are looking at then a stalemate. 18 months away from the nest -- elections. we are looking at a stalemate that can't do any of the things bennett's -- vanessa is suggesting. >> i don't think so. most of the opposition has moved away from a project with the so-called interim government and has engaged in negotiation, the name we give to the movement around maduro.

a very challenging, difficult, but ongoing process, the opposition and government of venezuela have focused on discussing, which is already progress from the situation in 2019 when phrases like "all options are on the table," meaning military threats against the venezuelan government and venezuela in general. the situation politically has definitely improved. of course, there need to be concessions. when i say both sides, the opposition is requesting guarantees in order to achieve free and fair elections, and the government is addressing a message that is more addressed

to the u.s. government and the opposition, saying that in order to achieve free and fair elections, venezuela should not be subject to unilateral u.s. sanctions, which is what vanessa was referring to. today, the venezuelan government is under u.s. sanctions. it doesn't have access to bank accounts, and it's a country where the national oil company cannot -- it's the fact that the u.s. has great international influence. it cannot engage in training. the impact on the venezuelan economy is immense. the government claims that free

and fair elections need to be sanctions-free. we are dealing with a timetable that is dependent not only on the progress internally, but also the progress in the international arena. imran: phil gunston, let's talk about the international community. you've got cuba, china, turkey backing maduro. then you have the west, and effectively the eu, a little bit less so now. has any of it been useful for venezuela? >> i think the polarization you've referred to reflex the

domestic polarization. this went from being a domestic crisis and extended into the region, an unprecedented refugee crisis. it is creating within the region lots of aspects of the crisis. it is a global geopolitical crisis, as well, when the u.s., russia and china, if they ever sit around a table, venezuela is on the agenda. they may not be at the top, but it's an item. what that does mean, of course, the u.s. and its allies and maduro's allies have a role in

resolving this. the focus has to be on the talks that will resume in mexico city. that has to be backed by the international community, but those talks have to be connected in some way to the venezuelan people. at the moment, they are operating almost in a vacuum. as mentioned, the reality of those talks is that they are in essence a negotiation between caracas and washington. there needs to be a way in which those talks is connected to what venezuelans on the ground here really want.

imran: that is a pretty pessimistic assessment of the international community's role. is there any optimism when it comes to the international community? i phil: think there is plenty. i think the -- vanessa: i think there is plenty. there are many options for venezuela's economy, which include helping europe through the ukrainian war. the importance of venezuela has been underexplored. there is geographic importance in terms of international shipping lanes. there are things that can be

done that weren't done because of the terrible kleptocracy and mismanagement. i've always said there was mismanagement, so that is not really new to venezuela, but it grew exponentially. i agree and disagree with some things phil gunston said. i think the negotiations in new mexico are somewhat irrelevant. i do agree that they are basically a proxy between washington and the opposition. the problem with the opposition is -- what do they want? sitting down at the table in mexico, what is your list of demands on the venezuelan citizens?

can you please tell us? they can't. as you know from clinical negotiations anywhere in the world, whether it is middle east pieced for northern ireland, if you don't know what the demands are, you are in serious trouble. it is complement -- complicated. imran: one of the things that seems to be coming out is whoever controls the foreign assets will be the de facto leader of venezuela. is that crucial? >> what is crucial for the future for venezuela who is an oil-based economy, to turn around its oil sector, oil and gas, what is of the essence is to let the venezuelan society

take care of its own development, which it can't. fortunately, the economic situation has improved. the venezuelan economy is growing again, but that is mostly the effect of internal reforms passed by the government. you were mentioning who runs the country. there is absolutely no doubt it is the government in caracas. the access to foreign assets is symbolic, something that pertains to the sovereignty of the country. regardless of the opinion on how the country is ruled, the fact that those assets belong to the state of venezuela, so it should be under the control of the

venezuelan government. imran: we are running out of time. i do want to come quickly to phil gunston. the picture being painted here, this could be a simple domestic pursuit, but it's made more complicated. phil: i think it is a complicated domestic dispute that has to do with the dismantling of venezuelan institutions. so long as that remains the case, the logjam will continue. the importance of mexico, and i understand the importance -- mexico is the place in which

agreements that have to do for the opposition, these agreements can be ratified. it is a process i am referring to. that negotiating process, which ought to work according to the plan, so the concessions are met with sanctions relief from the u.s. -- that ought to work, but it needs to be kick started by a government in caracas, which will contemplate losing power. imran: i want to thank all of our guests, vanessa milliman, phil gunston. i want to thank you for watching. you can watch any time by visiting our website. for further discussion, go to our facebook page.

you can join the conversation on twitter. for me, imran khan, and the whole team, goodbye for now. ♪ ob