A majority of opposition deputies in the National Assembly of Venezuela voted today, Thursday, in favor of eliminating the “interim presidency” self-proclaimed by Juan Guaidó.
A total of 72 former deputies, of the 112 who supported the self-proclamation of Guaido In 2019, they voted, during a virtual meeting, in favor of the elimination of the so-called “interim government” headed by the former deputy, a decision that must be ratified in another session to be finalized.
Some 104 parliamentarians elected in 2015, whose term expired in January 2021, met to decide on the elimination of the “interim presidency” or its continuity for one more year, and agreed to hold a second discussion -on a date not yet define – the project presented last Wednesday that proposes to end the interim.
However, the approach of Guaidowho defended the usefulness and work of the “interim government”, was supported by 23 former deputies who spoke out in rejection of the elimination of this figure and branded the intention of the anti-Chavista majority as a “parliamentary coup”.
Capriles calls for an end to the “interim government” of Guaidó
The Venezuelan opponent Henrique Capriles demanded last Monday the end of the so-called interim government headed by Juan Guaido since 2019 -with the promise of free elections-, considering that it is a “policy that failed” and became a system that benefits a handful of leaders and not the citizens.
caprilesa two-time presidential candidate, questioned whether Guaidó seeks to renew in 2023, for a fifth year, the so-called “presidency in charge” which was created in January 2019 with the purpose of calling presidential elections within 30 days, something that never happened.
“If I could say something to those who have the responsibility of making a decision (to vote for the continuity or not of the interim government) it is that they do not allow themselves to be blackmailed, enough of that modus vivendi,” he said. capriles at a press conference in Caracas.
The anti-Chavista questioned the permanence of this figure, which arose after a particular interpretation of the Constitution by Guaido when he was president of Parliament, with which he challenged the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro as president and obtained the support of some 60 countries, many of which have already withdrawn their recognition.
capriles He added that the argument of renewing the so-called interim government as a way to “preserve” Venezuela’s assets abroad, such as the Citgo company, a subsidiary of the state-owned PDVSA, is “blackmail.”
“Citgo is not protected by the interim government, it is protected (…) by an executive order of the United States Government, that is what protects Citgo from the mismanagement it had,” he said.
Since January 2019, with the support of the United States, Guaido he leads a so-called “interim government”, as well as the parallel chamber, figures without powers or real power in the country’s bureaucracy.
(With information from EFE)