BOGOTA, Colombia—President Donald Trump recognized head of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress, Juan Guaidó, as the country’s legitimate interim president as tens of thousands took to the streets of Caracas and cities across Venezuela in the hope of removing Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship.
Protestors had mobilized against the Maduro regime which has seen the country slide into a dire economic and political crisis.
In front of hundreds of supporters, Guaidó, leader of the opposition-run National Assembly, swore himself in as “interim president” in the hope of soon being recognized by the US as legitimate political leader.
Those hopes were quickly met by a statement that followed from Trump who declared Guaidó “the Interim President of Venezuela” and the National Assembly “the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people.”
“I will continue to use the full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy,” the statement from the White House added, before encouraging other leaders in the Western Hemisphere to follow suit.
During the protests, four were killed—amongst them a 16-year-old who was shot to death—in clashes with security forces, and at least 43 were detained by authorities, according to non-governmental organiations monitoring the events.
The protests marked 61 years since the fall of the country’s military dictatorship in 1958 and come during a particularly tumultuous week for the regime. On Jan. 21 the first low-ranking military uprising was recorded and 27 members of the National Guard were arrested, suggesting cracks are forming in the military’s loyalty to the government. The incident was followed by widespread protests which left cars on fire and statues smashed.
Many of those protests were reported from Chavista neighborhoods as the ever-deteriorating conditions have now forced even those who long-supported the legacy of former leader, Hugo Chavez, to the streets.
The uprising has been attributed to the reinvigoration of the National Assembly thanks to its new fresh-faced leader Guaidó, but also due to new levels of discontent in the once-rich nation: Major shortages of food, medicine, and basic items continue, and hyperinflation is now predicted to reach ten million percent. Three million Venezuelans have fled the Andean nation as a result.
“I am marching because I don’t live in democracy, there is no future… almost all my friends and family have left the country,” Canaimé Arellano, a 27-year-old student in Caracas, told the Epoch Times. “It’s now or never: I want to see my Venezuela free of these communists who have done so much damage.”
Many participants hope the demonstrations could spur on Guaidó and help defeat Maduro’s iron grip on the country who started his latest six-year-term on Jan. 10. Maduro’s inauguration was largely recognized as fraudulent and in violation of the Republic’s democratic constitution.
“We all went out to march in support of Juan Guaidó and to once again say we don’t want Maduro,” said Ana, who took to the streets in the state of Acarigua. “We want to live in freedom: super inflation is killing us, you earn $9 a month and food for a cat costs $28. There is no food, no medicine, patients are dying in hospitals.”
In Caracas 63 protests were registered by the Social Conflict Observatory. While some scenes were largely peaceful, with major roads and bridges filled with protesters adorned in Venezuelan flags chanting “Maduro Out!”, others were met with violence as crowds were dispersed by tear gas. A 16-year-old was reportedly shot dead in west Caracas while three others died “looting” in Ciudad Bolivar, in the southeast of the country, according to the Defence Ministry.
Scenes captured in social media showed protesters pleading with Caracas’ riot police to “join them” in the demonstrations, and in the city of San Felix, a statue of former socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was engulfed in flames during the unrest while protesters shout and bang pots and pans.
Many fear a brutal clampdown will follow as national police and armed pro-Maduro gangs have often maintained control by beating or in some cases shooting demonstrators. Hundreds have been killed and thousands detained by the regime and such gangs in recent years.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted on the eve of the protests that officials “should reconsider the plan they have for tomorrow before it’s too late,” suggesting sources had made him aware of a heavy-handed security response. “You are about to cross a line & trigger a response that believe me you are not prepared to face.”
Despite the potential repercussions, and ominous early-morning showers, the protests continued.
“We are expecting the beginning of a democratic transition,” said Oscar Patiño, general coordinator of A World Without Censorship, an NGO promoting human rights in Venezuela. “We are seeing a great support from people that were once Chavistas…the people can lo longer bear the situation and are asking for Nicolas to go.”
Simultaneous demonstrations were held across the world from London to Sydney in defiance of the current government as diplomatic pressure builds and sanctions grow. Brazil, Colombia, and the U.S. have been vocal critics of the “illegitimate leader.”
International observers will be closely monitoring any signs of defection from the military which Guaidó has identified as key to removing the “usurper.”
From The Epoch Times
