Juan Guaidó: Venezuela has a new president

Listen this article

 

Amid the marches of this Wednesday, Venezuela has a new interim president, who has great international support

In the midst of the marches of this Wednesday, January 23, on the 61st anniversary of the overthrow of Marcos Pérez Jiménez's dictatorship, thousands of Venezuelans, from the opposition and in favor of the Maduro government, flooded the streets of the main cities of the country, following the call of Juan Guaidó.

The intention of Guaidó, president of the National Assembly (AN) of Venezuela, had positive reactions because according to experts and according to El Espectador, Venezuelans are "tired of inflation, lack of food and medicine and migration." This last aspect being one of the most important due to the high number of migrants who decide to leave the country in search of a better future. It is estimated that more than 3 million Venezuelans have left the country, and it is expected that by 2019, the number will continue to grow. As expected, the Maduro government decided to use the demonstrations so that their supporters came out to demonstrate the support to the Chavista regime.

New president

In the midst of the marches, Juan Guaidó was sworn in as "president in charge" of Venezuela. Guaidó said "before Almighty God, I swear to formally assume the powers of the National Executive as president in charge of Venezuela to achieve the cessation of usurpation, a transitional government and free elections."

According to the BBC, the National Assembly considers that Maduro is usurping power because he was elected in the last elections. This is how the opposition does not recognize these legitimate elections, which were not recognized as valid by different countries and international organizations.

Donald Trump and Guaidó

In the afternoon, and through the official Twitter account of the White House, the support of President Donald Trump was made public to the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó.

Similarly, President Trump supported the statement of Vice President Mike Pence, adding that "the citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate regime of Maduro. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, as the Interin President of Venezuela."

Maduro's response

From the balcony of the Miraflores palace, Maduro addressed the Venezuelan people arguing that he will not allow the attempt of a coup d'état. In addition, he added that the country's affairs should be addressed and treated from the country. In the same way, he stated that it was important to strengthen the army.

Among his statements, he affirmed that the Venezuelan government would break relations with the United States government, and gave a "72-hour deadline for the United States Government to leave Venezuela."

International support

Until the moment of writing this article, not only the US government recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela. Thus, the government of

• Colombia
• Brazil
• Ecuador
• Paraguay
• Chile
• Ecuador
• Costa Rica
• Canada
• Peru
• Guatemala

They recognized the support for Juan Guaidó. In the same way, Luis Almagro, president of the Organization of American States (OAS), also congratulated Juan Guaidó.

The countries that still support Maduro are Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey.

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
Translated from "Juan Guaidó: Venezuela tiene nuevo presidente"