The United States continues to recognize the democratically elected 2015 National Assembly as the last remaining democratic institution in Venezuela, and we welcome the agreement reached to extend its authority.
The United States supports the Venezuelan people in their desire for a peaceful restoration of democracy through free and fair elections and will continue to support Venezuela's democratic opposition. We continue to call on Nicolás Maduro to make meaningful progress in the negotiations in Mexico with the Unitary Platform focused on the 2024 elections. Releasing an electoral calendar, reinstating candidates, and returning control of political parties to rightful leaders, updating the electoral registry, and allowing for international electoral observation missions are all crucial elements to this negotiation.
We also continue to call for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 European Union Electoral Observation Mission to Venezuela, aimed at improving future electoral processes in line with international commitments on democratic elections. We will work with a broad range of Venezuelan and international partners to use all appropriate diplomatic and economic tools to press for the release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons, the independence of political parties, respect for freedom of expression and other universal human rights, and an end to human rights abuses. We will engage with other members of the international community to foster conditions conducive to the conduct of free and fair elections in Venezuela, and to support the objectives of the negotiations in Mexico.
The United States also supports efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people and bring the humanitarian crises in Venezuela to an end through international cooperation. Since 2017, the United States has provided more than $2.3 billion in humanitarian assistance both inside Venezuela and to Venezuelans forced to flee throughout the region. The Maduro regime's pattern of political repression and rampant human rights abuses, as well as severe restrictions on political and civil society actors and freedom of expression, have robbed the Venezuelan people of democratic self-determination. We support the efforts of the Unitary Platform and other actors to establish democratic order and rule of law in Venezuela.
