The main Venezuelan opponent Juan Guaido affirmed, Thursday, December 29, that the “interim government” was to remain in place even if he was no longer its president, while three opposition parties want him gone.
This alternative government was created in 2019 when the opposition to Nicolas Maduro and the international community refused to recognize the re-election of the heir to Hugo Chavez. Without real powers, however, they control Venezuelan assets abroad. “My proposal is that the institution be defended above names or personal interests and that this tool not be destroyed”Guaido said in a video posted on social media.
Three of the four major opposition parties want it abolished, while Voluntad Popular, the party of Juan Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez, believes that ending the interim presidency would allow President Maduro to regain his hands on Venezuelan resources blocked at the government. abroad by the sanctions.
International support withered
“Maintaining the presidency [intérimaire] has nothing to do with Juan Guaido. It’s a duty. You have the votes to destroy the interim presidency. Not Maduro. But you also have the votes to keep it and name the people who make it up.added Mr. Guaido, addressing the deputies of the former Parliament elected in 2015, who defend its continuity by considering the legislative elections won by the government in 2020 as fraudulent. These parliamentarians elected in 2015 will vote this Friday to decide on the future of the presidency.
Not recognizing the re-election of Nicolas Maduro in 2018 in a ballot boycotted by the opposition, Mr. Guaido had declared himself ” President “ in January 2019, and had obtained recognition from around fifty countries, including the United States and France. However, international support has since waned. There is even a warming between Washington and Mr. Maduro, in the context of the oil crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
The three parties in favor of the disappearance of the ” temporary government “ (Primero Justicia, Accion Democrática et Un Nuevo Tiempo) I confirmed my position Tuesday in a communiqué: “the provisional government has ceased to be useful (…) and is of no interest to the citizens”. The opposition has announced that it will hold primaries next year to choose a single candidate to face Maduro in the 2024 presidential election. Mr. Guaido is among the possible candidates.