Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido faced an internal test of his authority in a key vote yesterday as he campaigns to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and end the country’s economic and humanitarian crisis.
The opposition-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly was to decide whether to keep Guaido as its leader for a second year.
Guaido would also come under pressure to articulate a fresh vision for removing Maduro — something he has not been able to accomplish.
“The big question for this year is whether Guaido will be able to use his waning political strength to guide his coalition through such a rocky period,” said Geoff Ramsey, a researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America research center. “Opposition unity is already fraying at the edges, and the armed forces appear less likely than ever to abandon Maduro.”
Guaido declared presidential powers over Venezuela on Jan. 23 last year, saying that Maduro’s re-election was illegitimate, because the most popular opposition parties and political leaders had been disqualified from running.
The US and more than 50 other nations declared Maduro’s leadership invalid and endorsed Guaido.
Venezuela sits atop vast oil and mineral resources, but it has been imploding economically and socially in the past few years.
Critics have blamed the plunge on years of failed socialist rule and corruption, while Maduro’s allies have said US sanctions are taking a toll on the economy.
The South American nation’s 30 million people suffer soaring inflation and shortages of gasoline, water and electricity.
Maduro, who took over after the 2013 death of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, has said Guaido is a puppet of the US.
He also said he is determined to win control of the assembly in elections later this year.
Ramsey said this is an important moment for Venezuela’s opposition.
“Guaido will have to not only re-energize his base and convince them to stay engaged, but keep his coalition in line as well,” he said.
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RELAXED: After talks on Ukraine and trade, the French president met with students while his wife visited pandas, after the pair parted ways with their Chinese counterparts French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his fourth state visit to China yesterday in Chengdu, striking a more relaxed note after tough discussions on Ukraine and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier. Far from the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing where the two leaders held talks, Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), showed Macron and his wife Brigitte around the centuries-old Dujiangyan Dam, a World Heritage Site set against the mountainous landscape of Sichuan Province. Macron was told through an interpreter about the ancient irrigation system, which dates back to the third century
RSS