Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a rally in support of his government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019.
“Today, January 23, 2019, in my condition as President of the National Assembly, invoking the articles of the constitution – before Almighty God – I swear to formally assume the power of the national executive office as the president of Venezuela,” said Juan Guaido on Wednesday, at a rally in front of his supporters in the capital Caracas.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro now finds himself at an impasse.
US President Donald Trump has officially recognised Guaido as an interim president.
Guaido, as president of the National Assembly - represented “the only legitimate” state organ in the country because he was “duly” elected by the Venezuelan people, according to a statement published by the White House.
The opposition politician had taken over the chairmanship of the National Assembly, which now only meets symbolically, and Guaido used the media's attention to present himself at parliament meetings and national rallies in the country.
Since January 10, when Maduro was sworn in for a new term of six years, the parliament has regarded the president as the usurpador (usurper) who “illegally” occupies the office.
Juan Guaido, President of Venezuela's National Assembly, holds a copy of Venezuelan constitution during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019.
The self-declared ‘interim-president’ - Juan Guaido
The engineer from the northern state of Vargas, on the Caribbean coast, started his political career in 2007 as the leader of the student protests against former president Hugo Chavez.
In 2009, alongside the opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, he founded the party Voluntad Popular, through which he was first elected to the National Assembly two years later. He became the party’s president in January 2019 due to a lack of alternatives - the main opposition leaders are either under house arrest or in exile.
Weeks after becoming the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Guaido announced that he was striving for a transitional government and that he wanted to make himself “available” as president.
Red: Countries recognising Maduro. Green: Countries recognising Guaido. Black: Venezuela.
The more radical members of oppositional groups had hoped that he would immediately proclaim himself the new president.
His party follows the ideology of centrist social democracy, mainly influenced by its founder Leopoldo Lopez.
When Lopez was the party’s leader he was known for his emphasis on solving the problems of poverty, the unjust distribution of wealth and the disrespect of human rights.
He also supported ‘social inclusion’ and investment into a Solidarity Fund to combat the economic issues of Venezuelans, funded through oil production and export.
Whether Guaido will follow his leader’s path is not clearly known, so far his main agenda is “to bring democracy back” to Venezuela, as he said during the national rally where he proclaimed the interim presidency.
A woman holds a sign as she gathers in support of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido outside the Embassy of Venezuela in Mexico City, Mexico January 23, 2019.
“We are with you [Venezuelans], we stand with you and we will stay with you until democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright,” he said.
Critics of Guaido say that he lacks political vision. In his debut speech for president of parliament, the young politician was mainly talking about Maduro instead of how to get Venezuela out of its economic crisis.
Others think he is too inexperienced to challenge Maduro, who has been part of the governing party since 2006.
I received in the Presidential Palace a sea of people who defend peace and national sovereignty, who govern and direct the destinies of the Homeland in Revolution. We’re joy, we’re the majority, we’re the sons of Hugo Chávez Frías! pic.twitter.com/aJF2eo6i3V
— Nicolás Maduro (@maduro_en) January 23, 2019
The official president of Venezuela - Maduro
Nicolas Maduro is the official 46th president of Venezuela since April 2013. Before he took office he was the vice president (2012-2013) and foreign minister (2006-2012) under Hugo Chavez.
Maduro is known for being a close companion of Chavez. After the death of Chavez in 2013, Maduro took the office of presidency.
However, he is a contested leader due to fact that he has presided over the country’s spiral into its worst-ever economic crisis, as well as controversies over the recent elections, boycotted by the opposition, and the constitutional crisis of 2017.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a rally in support of his government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez next to his wife Cilia Flores in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019.
In March 2017, the Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela - accused of being mainly made up of Maduro supporters - took over the legislative powers of the Venezuelan Parliament and restricted the immunity of assembly members.
The former bus driver and union activist won elections in May last year that were boycotted by the opposition and dismissed as by the EU, US and Organization of American States.
In 2016, Maduro’s party lost its majority in parliament, enabling the opposition to challenge his leadership, but the Supreme Court stripped the legislature of its powers in 2017.
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