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The politician directing efforts to force Nicolás Maduro out of power promised to step up his "fight for freedom", as Venezuelan special forces went to his home in the capital Caracas.
Speaking in front of a crowded theater Thursday at noon at the Central University of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó said that the opposition was determined to end the "tragedy" of Venezuela and to lead the country towards a new era of stability and prosperity.
Former 35-year-old student leader – at the center of a growing political storm since he declared himself interim president of Venezuela – called for new protests Saturday to try to increase pressure on Maduro's regime .
The current situation in Venezuela can be attributed to a revolution that went terribly wrong.
When Hugo Chávez, a former army officer, was elected president in 1998, he inherited a middle-income country plagued by deep inequalities. Chávez had led an abortive coup attempt in 1992 and, after being imposed on power, he set himself the goal of transforming society. As part of its Bolivarian revolution, financed with the help of large oil profits, Chávez has carried out many social reforms. He also bypbaded Parliament with a new constitution in 1999.
The muzzling of parliamentary democracy – and the spread of corruption and mismanagement in state-run businesses – intensified after 2010 due to falling oil prices. Chávez's "economic war" against shortages has led to hyperinflation and the collapse of the private sector. The implosion of the economy between 2013 and 2017 was worse than that of the United States during the Great Depression.
In an attempt to stabilize the economy and control the prices of basic necessities, Chávez has put in place a strict control of foreign exchange operations, but this mechanism has quickly become a tool of corruption.
When Chávez died of cancer, his foreign minister, Nicolás Maduro, took the place that allowed him to intensify the attitude of his mentor to react to the economic spiral by concentrating power, governing by decree and applying political repression.
Photography: HANDOUT / X80001
"The dictatorship thinks that it can scare us," Guaidó told an audience of supporters, announcing that he had received reports of visits to his home of members of the opposition unit. Special Action Force Police (FAES). His granddaughter and grandmother were apparently at home.
Guaidó insisted that Venezuelan citizens would not be intimidated and that they were tired of the humanitarian emergency in which their country fell under Maduro.
"It is not by … the repression that they will manage to tame a brave people who are seeking freedom, democracy, food, medicine and above all a better future for their children," Guaidó said. to the applause of the crowd.
"We are in the streets and we will stay in the streets until the end of the usurpation."
While the Leader of the Opposition was speaking, the crowd broke under the applause of "Sí s'puede!" ("Yes, we can) – the slogan of the Obama era that the young politician sought to adopt in his fight to overthrow Maduro.
A woman shouted, "You are not alone Guaidó! We are all with you! "
Juan Guaidó launches the plan País (Plan for the country) of his party to leave Venezuela of the economic crisis. Photography: Carlos García Rawlins / Reuters
Guaidó was speaking at the launch of Plan País (Plan for the Country), a broad-based opposition plan that claims to be able to save Venezuela's economy and end a humanitarian crisis that has seen about a tenth of the population flee abroad.
The plan – a direct challenge to the six-year Maduro Patria plan – includes plans to revive oil company PDVSA, a major oil company in the country, to repair Venezuela's broken health service and feed its hungry people by guaranteeing them access to basic foodstuffs and offering subsidies to the poorest 48% of families.
"[The plan is] a joint effort. There is not a single spokesperson. There is no messianic leader. It's a team, a great team of leaders who are committed to [Venezuela’s development]Guaido, a little-known politician until the crisis catapults him nationally and internationally this month.
"People say that it is a problem of left or right in Venezuela. No, it's a problem of humanity, "he added.
Elizabeth Guerrero, a 59-year-old retired teacher, came to watch her with a sign reading "Juan Guaidó. Thank you for giving us hope and faith.
"I am here because Juan Guaidó gave us hope and gave us the conviction that, yes, we can come out of this chaos. People quit because it seemed that there was neither plan nor strategy. But [the opposition] show that [they can] … Help us out of this disaster. "
The young face of the opposition is almost unknown inside and outside Venezuela and was pushed to the fore by chance. Guaidó was named president of the national badembly on January 5th because it was the turn of his party, Voluntad Popular (The will of the people). At age 35, he is a junior member of the party, but his leaders are either under house arrest, in hiding or in exile.
His relative darkness has been an advantage in a country where the opposition has generally failed to distinguish itself, losing its cool at critical moments, succumbing to internal quarrels and getting involved in a failed coup against Hugo Chávez. 2002.
Guaidó baderts with the presidency a clause of the constitution according to which the president of the National Assembly is authorized to badume an interim power and to declare new elections within a period of 30 days if the legislator considers that the president misses his fundamental obligations left the position.
Questions have been raised about the bed-mates Guaidó chose for what he calls his candidacy for saving Venezuela. His main international support is Donald Trump.
The Brazilian far right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is another key supporter of the region. He is known for his hostility to human rights and his penchant for dictatorship. Despite these characteristics, Guaidó rented what he called "Bolsonaro's commitment to and for democracy [and] human rights ".
Photography: Luis Robayo / AFP
Yon Goicoechea, an opposition leader in sight, said: "We are closer to democracy than ever before."
Guaidó urged Venezuelan security forces to join his attempt to overthrow Maduro, which has received US support, as well as regional heavyweights, including Brazil and Colombia. Major European countries, including France, Germany and Great Britain, have declared Guaidó the legitimate interim leader of Venezuela.
"I say to FAES [Venezuela’s special forces] and I say to the armed forces: you still have time to put yourself on the right side of history and to respect the Constitution, "said Guaidó.
Outside the university-lined entrance, hundreds of riot police had gathered and students had chanted anti-Maduro songs.
Pro-Guaidó graffiti artists had invaded the neighboring walls with red paint.
"The dictatorship is hunger and terror," reads a message. "Enough misery and repression," said another.
Maduro, above all, continues to benefit from the support of Beijing and Moscow.
But on Thursday, Guaidó urged them to part with his political rival – who came to power after Hugo Chávez's death in 2013 and was re-elected to power at the end of the contentious elections of the year. last – and adopted a new government that he said would restore the rule of law to stabilize Venezuela's collapsed economy.
"China and Russia would also benefit from a change of government in this country," he said.
Maduro accused Guaidó of being a puppet during a US-backed coup d'etat. In a video released Tuesday morning, he accused Donald Trump and the "group of extremists around him" of plotting to overthrow him in order to seize Venezuela's oil.
Trump was threatening to turn the country of South America into a new Vietnam, Maduro said.
"We will not allow a Vietnam in Latin America. If the United States intends to intervene against us, they will get a worse Vietnam than they could have imagined, "he said.
Additional reports from Patricia Torres in Caracas
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