Thousands of Venezuelans took the streets to demonstrate against and also to support President Nicolas Maduro.
The opposition leader and head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, declared himself acting president and will call for new elections.
Many countries, including the United States, were quick in recognizing him as the new leader of the country.
CGTN’s Stephen Gibbs reports from Caracas.
Follow Stephen Gibbs on Twitter @STHGibbs
To discuss all of this:
- Gloria La Riva is the coordinator of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee in the United States.
- Pedro Burelli is a former member of the executive board of Petroleos de Venezuela – the oil company.
- Michael Shifter is the president of the Inter-American Dialogue.
- Lucas Koerner is a journalist and political analyst at venezuelanalysis.com.
For more:
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 Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela. https://t.co/WItWPiG9jK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2019
Who is Juan Guaido, Venezuela's self-declared president? https://t.co/jdTjLCaBii pic.twitter.com/bkCGyUcNRh
— CBC World News (@CBCWorldNews) January 23, 2019