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| - The United States on Tuesday downplayed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's pardon of more than 100 lawmakers and associates of opposition leader Juan Guaido, warning not to be fooled by the "token" measures. "Neither the Venezuelan people nor international community will be fooled by these token & transparent acts," tweeted Michael Kozak, the acting assistant secretary of the Western Hemisphere division at the US State Department. "Democracy can only prevail when all conditions for free & fair elections are met," he said. Venezuela's announcement of the pardons on Monday came a day after Maduro claimed to be supporting measures to bring "reconciliation" and "dialogue" to the deeply polarized South American country ahead of December legislative elections. Kozak emphasized: "Let's not forget that Maduro continues to arbitrarily detain 100's of political prisoners." Guaido and leading opposition figures have already vowed to boycott those polls over a lack of transparency. In January 2019, National Assembly speaker Guaido challenged Maduro's authority by declaring himself acting president, quickly receiving the backing of more than 50 countries including the United States. US President Donald Trump has been a staunch Guaido ally, and has increased pressure on the leftist Maduro regime with a series of sanctions. Washington has also accused Maduro of "narcoterrorism" and placed a $15 million bounty on his head. Kozak wrote on Twitter that for there to be fair elections in Venezuela, Maduro must meet a series of benchmarks that include respect for free speech, an end to censorship, the release of all political prisons, and independent monitoring of the vote. an-ad/ch/bfm
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