Tour de Caracas: Guaidó leads Venezuela through a difficult crossroads

Isayen Herrera collaborated on the Caracas report.

CARACAS, Venezuela – The calls of world leaders were becoming more urgent. The prime minister of Denmark was trying to communicate with him, like Justin Trudeau.

However, it seemed that Juan Guaidó, the young Venezuelan legislator who took the initiative to overthrow the authoritarian government of the country, was in no hurry to talk to them: he was holding the hand of a woman whose son had been killed by security forces during a night event.

"It can not be in vain," Guaidó told the woman, Ana Cecilia Buitrago, Sunday morning, as her eyes filled with tears.

"My son had a big heart," said Buitrago, 58, with a trembling voice. His son, Jhonny Godoy, 29, was killed on January 25 in front of his modest home in Caracas. "This government must fall so that we can put an end to all this misery."

Godoy's death came a few days after Guaidó, president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, launched a bold move to force Nicolás Maduro to step down as president. Guaidó argued that Maduro had "usurped" power when he took office on January 10, after elections considered by many to be rigged.

Since then, Guaidó, a skinny 35-year-old man, has spent long days seeking more support abroad while building on what he already has and continues to grow in Venezuela. The goal is that the highest government officials, especially military leaders, turn their backs on Maduro.

Although it is unclear whether Guaidó will manage to enter the presidential palace, the number of Venezuelan citizens and foreign powers that support it is increasing.

So far, more than twenty countries have recognized him as acting president of the country, including the United States, Canada and most of the American continent. Several countries in the European Union imposed on Maduro the Sunday deadline at midnight to call for free and fair elections. France and Austria have indicated that they will recognize Guaidó when the deadline expires.

If Guaidó's candidacy is retained, the allied leaders of the opposition and himself will have achieved an incredible feat: to lead a peaceful transition to democracy which, they hope, will put Venezuela on the road to recovery afterwards. years of economic collapse and corruption. widespread and a government with strict control.

His success would be more surprising if one considers the improvised plan that Guaidó and his allies developed, ostensibly overnight, to overthrow an armed and authoritarian government whose leaders were accused of transforming the government. State in a huge criminal enterprise.

In trying to gather national and international support, Guaidó crossed Caracas with a minimum of safety, sometimes bypbading motorcycle traffic. He receives calls from world leaders, as well as Venezuelan diplomats and politicians, on a mobile phone, where a torrent of text messages arrives and whose battery seems to be about to end.

Although his sudden rise was overwhelming, Guaidó shows no signs of feeling destabilized. He is calm while a team of volunteer badistants accompany him frantically. The only external sign that this new tumultuous life affects Guaidó is the harshness of his voice. At night, when he no longer receives calls or visits, Guaidó said, he has no problem falling asleep.

"I sleep peacefully," Guaidó said in an interview as his car slid into the traffic jams of Caracas, adding that he had learned to sleep like a baby in harsh conditions when he and other leaders of the opposition started a fifteen-year hunger strike. in 2015, during which they slept on mattresses in the street to pressure the government to set a date for the parliamentary elections. "It's a benefit."

However, Guaidó realizes that the road that he borrows is full of dangers.

Opposition leaders expected that when Guaidó declared himself the country's legitimate leader at a large street rally, the leaders of the armed forces would turn their backs on Maduro in a short time. Although high-level defections took place, the main military leaders were publicly presented at the Maduro rallies, which could foreshadow a protracted confrontation.

"We are seeing progress, but not as fast as we would like," Guaidó said, adding that fear remained a major stumbling block, especially among lower-ranking soldiers who supported the action of the army. ;opposition.

Indeed, the success of Guaidó is not guaranteed. Maduro still controls many of the power mechanisms, including the state broadcaster, a docile judicial system, the country's military leaders, and relentless paramilitary forces known as colectivos.

Even with these challenges, Guaidó says that he sees a clear path to victory, even though his plan is entering a dangerous phase.

The oil sanctions imposed by the United States last week will soon strangle the economy of the already devastated country, which will most likely cause fuel shortages and make food and medicine even scarcer.

Preparing for the destabilizing effects of sanctions, Guaidó and his international allies have announced their intention to start sending humanitarian aid to the country this week. This could undermine Maduro, who recently ridiculed this possibility by saying: "We are not a country of beggars".

Guaidó and his allies believe that this week, with the arrival of aid, it will be a decisive moment for the movement that gives hope to millions of Venezuelans, but that they still have to take measures that will considerably improve their life.

"There are between 250,000 and 300,000 Venezuelans who are about to die," Guaidó said as he crossed the city from his flat in the east of Caracas to Buitrago's home. "They are literally sentenced to death if they do not receive urgent attention."

If he manages to badume the presidency, Guaidó will have to try to solve the country's huge problems without having prior experience in front of a government.

Fernando Cutz, a former White House official who has worked on policies related to Venezuela, said that Guaidó was "the right man at the right time". However, even if Guaidó succeeds in overthrowing Maduro, the next steps will be dangerous.

"Things are likely to worsen for the Venezuelan people before it improves when, in fact, it will begin to take action for the collective good," Cruz said. Managing a transition, he added, "will be a monumental task that will require vision, skills, patience and a lot of time."

Since he became the undisputed leader of the opposition in mid-January – apparently overnight – Guaidó devoted his days to a series of clandestine meetings with government officials, meetings in which his fans testify to a devotion almost of worship and endless phone calls.

After proclaiming himself the country's legitimate leader, Guaidó lived under the constant threat of arrest and violence and often wakes up wondering when he will spend the next nights behind bars.

A group of intelligence agents briefly arrested him on January 13 and Maduro discredited him as a traitor of a conspiracy orchestrated by the United States to claim vast reserves of Venezuela oil.

Guaidó baderts that, since Maduro was elected after a rigged vote, the presidency is technically vacant and that as president of the National Assembly, he has the constitutional right to chair a government transition until the holding of other elections.

Although the armed forces came to support Guaidó, which would in fact imply the end of the Maduro regime, Guaidó said he was concerned about the actions of paramilitary forces that would probably remain loyal to Maduro.

"We can not allow the situation to proliferate," he said. He drew parallels with Colombia's struggle against guerrilla groups and paramilitary groups over the years. "There could be serious consequences, even in the short term."

On Sunday morning, during his visit to Buitrago, Guaidó 's attention was always split between a series of short and long – term concerns. To comfort the mother of the murdered youth, Guaidó searched for a rosary he had used these days under his shirt.

"They gave me this to protect me," he said, gently putting it in his palm. "It's a gift".

Guaidó seemed sorry to have to end the visit when his badistants whispered to him that Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, had tried to communicate with him. So he apologized and sat on Buitrago's couch to receive calls.

When Trudeau contacted him, Guaidó thanked him for recognizing him as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

Guaidó urged the Canadian leader not to be influenced by the group of leaders who call for new negotiations backed by the international government and the opposition to end the confrontation.

"This is not the moment to dialogue," said Guaidó firmly.

Guaidó said that it depends a lot on the ability to establish support networks to receive food, medicine and supplies for hospitals. His team hopes that Cáritas and other volunteers will begin sending this week.

The combination of the effects of US sanctions on oil, which is expected to reduce major sources of revenue for Maduro, and the attempt to provide humanitarian aid, will increase the level of confrontation. Economists believe that shortages of food and fuel are likely to worsen in the near term.

"There will be a moment of tension" with Maduro, said Guaidó. "However, they have destroyed our future and we must now ensure that they can not destroy the present."

As Guaidó prepared to leave the house, Buitrago said the visit had calmed his pain.

"This gesture comes from the heart," he said holding the rosary. "I'll have it with me until I die."