Both of these men claim to be
Venezuela's president
But who are they
and how can two people claim the same office?
There is a power struggle happening right now in Venezuela.
Nicolas Maduro, who’s been president for the past 5 years,
and Juan Guaido, the opposition leader of the National Assembly,
both say they have a constitutional right to the office.
The disagreement has caused international backlash
and dozens of countries have picked sides.
But how did it reach this point?
First, let's talk a little about how this all unfolded.
The crisis escalated in the beginning of January.
The relatively unknown Guaido gained prominence
when he was sworn into office as the head of the National Assembly
-- the opposition-held legislative body that was stripped of its power in 2017
by the country’s pro-Maduro supreme court.
He immediately began his campaign
against Nicolas Maduro’s government -- calling it illegitimate.
:
His claim stemmed back to the widely
criticized 2018 presidential election.
Key opposition figures were barred and
others boycotted the elections, calling them rigged.
Guaido invoked Article 233 of the country’s constitution, which says…
that if at the beginning of a new term there is no head of state,
the head on the National Assembly (Guaido)
would become the president until free and fair elections take place.
Guaido claims the country had no legitimately elected president
at the beginning of the new presidential term,
because of the disputed election, so he assumed office.
On January 23, he swore himself in as the interim president
of Venezuela in front of thousands of supporters.
After this unprecedented move,
leaders from around the world reacted.
A number of Latin American countries,
like Colombia, Brazil, and Peru
immediately came out in support of Guaido.
His most notable supporter, however,
was the United States.
Shortly after he swearing himself in as interim president,
the Trump administration weighed in:
[PENCE]: Hola, I’m Mike Pence
the vice president of the united States of America…
the United States supports the courageous decision by Juan Guaido,
the president of your National Assembly,
to assert that body's constitutional powers declare Maduro a usurper,
and call for the establishment of a transitional government.
[HOST]: Maduro accused the United States
of planning a coup against his government.
He cut off all diplomatic relations with the country.
He demanded all U.S. diplomats leave Venezuela within 72 hours.
The U.S. responded by saying Maduro had no right to severe relations
-- since it doesn’t consider him the legitimate head of state .
White House National Security advisor John Bolton went as far
as to say that the U.S. wasn’t taking any options off the table,
referring to the possibility of military action in Venezuela.
He conveniently happened to show his notepad that said
quote “5,000 troops to Colombia” to a room full of reporters.
The U.S. also placed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA,
to halt U.S. purchases of Venezuelan oil.
The move is set to hurt the country’s already crippled economy,
since the U.S. typically purchases roughly 40 percent of Venezuela’s oil.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.
As things escalate between Maduro’s government
and the U.S., other countries continue to pick sides.
Some have recognized Guaido, yet others
like Russia and China have affirmed their support for Maduro.
This unrest in Venezuela isn’t new.
Let’s go back to when Maduro first came to power.
Venezuela's former socialist authoritarian leader Hugo Chavez,
handpicked Maduro to lead the country.
And when Chavez died in 2013,
Maduro stepped in and continued the same economic
and political policies, despite a decline in oil prices
that once sustained the country.
This has driven Venezuela to the verge of collapse.
Under Maduro’s leadership,
Venezuela has entered into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
Nearly ninety percent of Venezuelans now live in poverty
and face severe food, medicine, and electricity shortages.
Food is so scarce that Venezuelans reported
losing an average of 24 pounds in 2017.
Venezuelans have called this trend the “Maduro diet.”
And with oil prices dropping,
Maduro’s government keeps causing inflation to rise.
The IMF said inflation would spike to
1.37 million percent by the end of 2018.
These dire living conditions have prompted
an estimated 3 million Venezuelans to flee
across international borders for basic goods like food and water.
This has made Maduro incredibly unpopular among his people
-- with an all time low approval rating below 20 percent.
That, plus his consolidation of power and
the weakening of democratic institutions in Venezuela
-- created the political environment we see today.
But will Guaido or Maduro come out
victorious in their battle for the presidency?
We’ll have to wait and see.