The five decisive stages in Venezuela since Juan Guaidó's self-swear

Before January 5 of this year, Juan Guaidó MP was on the Venezuelan political scene only as the next candidate for the presidency of the Parliament of this country of South America. He had to badume this post by rotating the head of legislator, agreed between the opposition parties for the parliamentary period 2019-2020.

After taking office, the new Speaker of the Legislative Assembly declared "illegitimate" President Nicolás Maduro, who would be sworn in five days later (Jan. 10) for a new constitutional term, after winning the elections with more than 60% of the votes. votes in May 2018.

The action of "delegitimizing" the government was not new, since its predecessors at the head of the legislature had already tried. However, this time, Guaidó's actions over the last 50 days have plunged the Bolivarian country into a climate of political tension, which Maduro has described as a "coup d'etat" pursued and led by the United States. United.

Self-proclamation

The day chosen was January 23rd. On a public square, in front of a small group of followers previously summoned to the march, Guaidó is self-appointed as "president in charge". A few minutes later, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, recognized him as "legitimate president" of Venezuela. Almost synchronously, other countries in Europe and Latin America, Washington's allies, have made that, in the calculations of the university professor of political theory, Jiuvanth Huérfano, they do not exceed "30% of the total countries of the world ".

The White House's support to Guaidó is accompanied by a request for a meeting at the United Nations Security Council, where the Trump administration has failed to build consensus to recognize opposition as "legitimate president" or to hold new elections.

designations

The appointment of a "new" director of Citgo, a subsidiary of PDVSA in the United States, was another important step in Guaidó's self-regulation. The legislature has also appointed a board of directors in the state-owned oil company, which generates more than 90 percent of the country's revenue. Both actions were held in accordance with Washington's decision to sanction the industry and its badets abroad.

In response, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) confirmed that the National Assembly was an outrage and that, as a result, its decisions were void. The same goes for more than a dozen "ambbadadors" appointed by the parliamentarian. In a judgment, the judiciary recalled that the measure was illegal and that the "diplomats" chosen were engaged in "usurpation of functions", which implied criminal offenses.

Despite the decision of the TSJ, the "appointed ambbadadors" disobeyed the measure of the judiciary. One of them was María Rivas, appointed diplomat in Costa Rica by Guaidó. There, the Venezuelan broke into the diplomatic headquarters of Caracas, located in this country of Central America, before apologizing to the authorities, who condemned this action.

Antonio Ecarri, designated by Guaidó as "ambbadador of Spain", is another "rebel" against the TSJ. The Spanish authorities do not regard him as a diplomat but as a "personal representative" of the parliamentarian and, to this day, Mario Isea continues to be accredited as Venezuela's official ambbadador on Spanish soil.

Otto Gebauer was named "ambbadador" in Germany a few hours after President Maduro's government declared Daniel Martin Kriener, Berlin ambbadador in Caracas, "non grata".

"Humanitarian aid"

A new "decisive date" was February 23rd. That day, fills a month of autojuramentación deputy, who had promised to enter "yes or yes" without the authorization of the authorities or without the endorsement of recognized bodies such as the International Red Cross, many "humanitarian aids" along the border with Colombia.

The day has arrived and the cargo has never entered through any of the border bridges between Venezuela and Colombia. The day left only a trail of violence provoked by clusters of hoods on the Colombian side, and media attention to President Maduro, who reportedly sent to "burn" one of the trucks with food and medicine.

Although the videos and photos recorded that day prove the contrary, a large part of the international community has approved the version that the government burned "humanitarian aid". This information was belied by the New York Times a few days ago, following the publication of an investigation that confirmed what many media reported at the time: the container was set on fire by supporters of Guaidó.

"It was a great defeat for him (Guaidó), and that's because the Colombian people and the Venezuelans who do not support Maduro did not join as he hoped," said the political badyst.

His return to the country

After the failure of the attempt to enter "humanitarian aid", expectations were centered on Guaidó's return to Venezuela, as the TSJ had banned his departure from the Caribbean country, as part of a series of precautionary measures.

While traveling to Cúcuta to participate in the operation "humanitarian aid", the parliamentarian violated the opinion of the Supreme Court of Venezuela. So we expected him to be arrested on his return. The tension lasted a few days, during which Guaidó decided to visit several countries of the Lima group before returning to Caracas. Meanwhile, the White House threatened to take "action" if the opposition leader was caught.

For Huérfano, the deputy tried to make his return to the country a reason to extend much longer his "pre-eminence of the media" in the international community, reached with the hope of "income from humanitarian aid "and exhausted after the trucks. they will not be able to enter Venezuelan territory.

Finally, the parliamentarian returned to Venezuela on Monday, March 4, accompanied by European ambbadadors accredited in the Caribbean country, one of them, the German diplomat, later considered a person "no grata" by Caracas.

At the reception, no security agency was waiting for his arrest but many cameras. Guaidó entered without a problem and later participated in a rally east of Caracas, in a square in an upscale neighborhood of the Venezuelan capital.

"It was a scenario (not stopping him) in which they made the task difficult, because, the night of his return, he expected perhaps to be at the heart of a global scandal, which did not take place, "says Huérfano.

The power outage

Three days after the return of the leader of the Parliament, a power outage occurred in almost every state in the country. Caracas blamed the US government and Venezuelan opposition factors for executing a "cyber attack" on the computerized brain of the Guri hydropower plant, which supplies 70% of the country's electricity.

In the midst of a blackout, while the authorities were trying to determine the causes and the population was resolved in the dark, the deputy Guaidó wrote in his report that in Venezuela would come the light " with the cessation of the "usurpation", which means for the opposition the departure of the president. constitutional

However, the executive managed to replenish the electricity service and Guaidó's decisions were limited to tweets intended to signal the government. For Huérfano, this generated a "socio-emotional" climate in the ranks of the opposition marked by "a deep disillusionment and a boredom".

And what comes next?

In the opinion of Huérfano, Guaidó will seek "mechanisms of all kinds to meet the expectations of the opposition," while the White House will continue its actions to strengthen diplomatic pressure and impose financial sanctions in Venezuela as part of his declared attempt to overthrow President Maduro.

This week, in the midst of rare street protests, Guaidó said that he would be occupying "soon" his office "at Miraflores Palace and insisted that the next 40 days, counted from Monday, March 4," be decisive "for the Bolivarian nation.

However, the consulted political scientist believes that "the only thing Guaidó has known is to pay attention to what the North American government says". Academics argue that the absence of a decision-making power creates a "political vacuum" that can cost the opposition a reduction in its potential electoral capital.

It is precisely to try to "revive" his supporters that Guaidó announced the operation "Libertad", a plan which consists, as he explained, in organizing a "national mobilization" at headquarters from the government, at the Miraflores Palace, to "take" President Maduro.

The appeal was launched in Valencia, in the state of Carabobo, in the central region of the country, facing a low concentration of supporters. On Monday, the president of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), Diosdado Cabello, sent him a direct message: "For Miraflores, they do not go away, there is no way, they are morally disabled to govern this country. "

Manuel Palma, RT.