The opposition put an end to the symbolic self-proclaimed government of Juan Guaidó in Venezuela after four years, opening a new political stage with the 2024 presidential elections in sight. The decision was made by the members of the old Parliament elected in 2015, who branded the triumph of ruling Chavismo in the 2020 parliamentary elections as fraudulent. The end of Guaidó’s “interim” as of next January 5 was approved by 72 votes in favor and 29 against, with eight abstentions, in a virtual session that the opposition leader calls “unconstitutional.”
“There can be no self-vacuum of power”
“This political decision made by the bench, which today makes up the majority that I respect as a democrat, I must say is unconstitutional because (article) 233 cannot be suppressed. There can be no self-emptying of power,” Guaidó said during an interview with RTVE from Spain. Guaidó claimed power for himself, alleging the illegitimacy of Nicolás Maduro as president. And he ended up reinterpreting the Constitution in his own way to extend the interim presidency for four years, when the article that supported his self-proclamation gave him 30 days to call elections.
“The dictatorship is the only one holding this debate in the National Assembly and the decision of a parliamentary majority to eliminate a constitutional tool such as the presidency in charge,” Guaidó commented on his Twitter account. The truth is that 72 former deputies who supported his self-proclamation in 2019 as president in charge of Venezuela, approved last Friday the elimination of the so-called “interim government”an instance that had the recognition of the United States and a small group of countries.
The former parliamentarians, meeting virtually, ratified this decision that they had already approved in a discussion the previous week, despite the rejection of a small group that defended the continuity of the interim. in turn they agreed keep the National Assembly elected in 2015 active, that does not recognize the legitimacy of the Legislature installed in 2021, with an overwhelming pro-government majority, solely to legislate around the protection of Venezuela’s resources abroad.
Guaidó’s proposal, which was to preserve the interim, was supported by only 23 former deputies who described the elimination of this figure as a “legal assassination”. Eight opponents, some independent and others from the Encuentro Ciudadano and Proyecto Venezuela parties, abstained from the vote, questioning the constitutional legality of the proposal presented by the Acción Democrática, Primero Justicia and Un Nuevo Tiempo formations.
“Interim Government of Narnia”
Guaidó, who proclaimed himself interim president in a public square on January 5, 2019 with Washington’s support, gained control of Venezuelan assets blocked abroad by sanctions against Maduro. However, could never assume real power, despite broad international support that diminished over time.
President Maduro is often ironic about Guaidó when he talks about the “interim government of Narnia.” In the same sense, the Minister of Communication and Information of Venezuela, Freddy Ñáñezhe tweeted: “rest in peace no one: the one who never was and being nothing no longer deserves today even the mockery of nothing “.
The self-baptized interim government ended up falling apart with the vote last Friday, but Parliament of 2015 is maintained that will appoint a commission dedicated to the issue of frozen Venezuelan assets abroad and that it will maintain parallel directives from the state oil company PDVSA and the Central Bank to sustain legal proceedings in foreign courts.
Allies who maintain support for Guaidó believe that the approved proposal is a mistake. “I can’t understand how we are committing this suicide”lashed out the ex-deputy Freddy Guevara in the virtual session. “I don’t understand how we got to this point, the first political suicide of formal surrender broadcast live on the Internet,” shot Guevara.
The situation deepens the fractures of the opposition, which seeks to go to primaries next year to choose a unique and competitive candidate to face Maduro in the 2024 elections. “I’m still here and firm,” said Guaidó in recent hours, the target of numerous judicial investigations and who still sounds like a presidential candidate.
No external support
International support for Guaidó, however, has been diluted in these four years. Washington, its main ally, did not react to the elimination of the interim, but he had already sent delegates to Caracas to meet with Maduro despite repeated sanctions. The context has changed with the energy crisis created by the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Venezuelan crudetargeted by an embargo since 2019, became more attractive loot for western countries.
While Maduro was gaining ground, Guaidó was losing the trust of his followers as allegations of corruption increased against officials appointed by the opposition leader to “protect” Venezuelan assets abroad, where they ended up being singled out for their luxurious life and irregular management. of public funds. Colombia and the United States, which gave their full support to Guaidó’s experiment, registered the biggest scandals of embezzlement of resources within Venezuelan companies that were under the management of the “president in charge.”