Almost four years after bursting onto the scene and gaining the recognition of more than 50 countries as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaido is set to be sidelined by opposition allies after failing to unseat President Nicolas Maduro.
Almost 70 lawmakers from Justice First, A New Era and Democratic Action, three of Venezuela’s four main opposition parties, say they have enough votes to ditch Guaido as their leader and create a five-member commission to take over his executive powers, representatives for the group said Wednesday.
The commission would be in charge of managing expenses and the country’s assets abroad, which are controlled by the opposition. The National Assembly, in charge of the group, would remain in place but only to debate on issues related to these resources while the interim government and most of its entities will be eliminated.
“We can’t continue with a strategy that has shown no results,” lawmaker Alfonso Marquina told reporters while presenting the proposal during a press conference in Caracas surrounded by representatives of other parties.
If lawmakers succeed in a vote to end his mandate, they will open the door to legitimize “the dictator,” Guaido said in a video on his Twitter account.
“This is not about Juan Guaido. The discussion isn’t about whether I have one role or another. It’s about defending the institution that gives possibilities to achieve change and defend democracy.” His interim government has been “useful” in delegitimizing the dictatorship, providing health aid to the people and protecting assets, he said.
The opposition’s move comes after Guaido failed in his strategy to remove Maduro by creating a parallel government with the support of international allies, following general elections in 2018 that were widely deemed fraudulent. While dozens of nations backed Guaido at first, now only a handful of governments, including the U.S., continue to recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Maduro, who has begun to make international trips again and is lobbying for sanctions relief, is preparing for a possible presidential election in 2024. The opposition plans to hold primaries to get behind a single candidate to challenge him and are using talks with outside observers to try to secure guarantees for the future vote.
Guaido is only supported by his former party Popular Will and smaller allies. A definitive vote on the proposals is scheduled for next week, as the current charter expires Dec. 31.
