2019 Venezuelan Presidential Crisis

Overview

The 2019 Venezuelan Presidential Crisis refers to ongoing political strife in the South American country as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro attempts to cling to power following an election that many considered illegitimate. The movement to remove Maduro from office has resulted in violent protests throughout in January 2019.

Background

In 2018, President Maduro declared himself the victor of the 2018 presidential election, which was plagued by reports of voter coercion, beginning the president's second six-year term in office. With poverty rampant in the country, which had undergone a dramatic and devastating economic collapse under Maduro's watch, many voters stated that they were promised food in exchange for their votes.^[1] According to Vox,^[2] "Venezuelans were told to show those IDs at polling stations run by Maduro’s party, according to the New York Times. That’s a big deal because a majority of Venezuelans rely on government subsidies to buy basic groceries. Without those subsidies, many would go hungry."

On January 10th, Maduro was sworn in for his sixth term.^[3]

Developments

Opposition

On January 11th, 2019, Maduro's opposition leader Juan Guaidó announced that he would be assuming the role of interim president. He tweeted,^[8] "Asumo el deber impuesto por la CRBV y el art. 333 que obliga a todos los venezolanos, investidos o no de autoridad, a luchar para la restitución del orden constitucional #ANRutaPorLaLibertad
#CabildoAbierto" (translation: I assume the duty imposed by the Constitution and article 333, which obliges all Venezuelans, vested or not of authority, to fight for the restitution of the constitution). The tweet received more than 5,100 retweets and 6,000 likes in two weeks (shown below).

Protests

On January 21st, 2019, violent protests broke out near Maduro's presidential palace.^[9] The protests continued throughout the next several days with thousands of citizens participating.^[11] Four died in the protests. During the protest, Guaidó announced that he was the interim leader of the country, which was later recognized by countries around the world.^[15]

International Response

While the country was propped up by world superpowers China and Russia, many countries around the world condemned the election and refused to legitimize it. On January 22nd, 2019, United States Vice President Mike Pence posted a message to the Venezuelan people. He tweeted, ^[4] "As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes. We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad." The tweet received more than 31,000 retweets and 57,000 likes in two days (shown below).

The following day, Pence posted a statement announcing the U.S.'s recognition of Maduro's opposition Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela. He wrote,^[5] "Today @POTUS announced the U.S. officially recognizes Juan Guaidó as the Interim President of Venezuela. To @JGuaido & the people of Venezuela: America stands with you & we will continue to stand with you until #Libertad is restored!"
Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 17,000 retweets and 29,000 likes (shown below, left).

President Donald Trump tweeted,^[6] "The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the Interim President of Venezuela." The tweet received more than 78,000 retweets and 120,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

That day, the Canadian government also announced that they would be recognizing Guaidó as the leader of the country. CBC News Alerts tweet,^[12] "Canada will recognize Juan Guaido as the new president of Venezuela. The opposition leader took an oath in Caracas a short time ago, declaring himself acting president and saying Nicolas Maduro has been deposed." The tweet received more than 5,000 retweets and 5,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Following the posts, Maduro ordered all U.S. diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. The US defied the order. That day, Trump told reporters that the U.S. was considering all "options" to handle the situation in Venezuela, including military intervention.^[7]

Russia, however, warned the U.S. not to intervene.^[10] A spokesperson for President Vladimir Putin said, "Any external intervention is very dangerous. We consider the attempt to usurp the top power in Venezuela as going against the foundations and principles of the international law."

Online Reaction

During the week of January 20th, 2019, various posts were made about the crisis on Reddit, some of which received more than 90,000 points. On January 23rd, Redditor^[13] Rev0d posted a photograph of the protests on the /r/pics subreddit. The post received more than 111,000 points (88% upvoted) and 8,000 comments (shown below).

That day, Redditor^[14] LiveBeef posted an article about the U.S. break from Venezuela. The post received more than 92,000 (91% upvoted) and 9,000 comments in 24 hours.

Instagram Verification

On January 23rd, 2019, the news outlet El Nacional^[16] reported that Instagram had revoked Naduro's verification badge and had verified Guadió (images below).

However, an Instagram spokesperson disputed the reports. They said that Maduro was never verified. Speaking with The Daily Dot, ^[17] the spokesperson said, "Nicolás Maduro was not verified on Instagram, and we did not remove verification from his account. Juan Guaidó was verified on Instagram in November 2018."

Media Coverage

Virtually every major media outlet covered the crisis, including the New York Times,^[1] Vox,^[2] The Washington Post,^[3] The Guardian,^[11] Bloomberg^[12] and more.

Search Interest

External References