Venezuela has a new president.
Sort of.
This guy may be on his way out.
But that depends on who you ask.
Welcome to America Uncovered.
I'm Chris Chappell.
Things have been a bit chaotic in Venezuela lately.
And not just because the inflation
hit 1 million percent by the end of last year.
And could hit 10 million percent this year.
I mean, at this point, what's a few million percent, give or take?
In Venezuela, it's literally cheaper to use cash than toilet paper.
Which, not only sounds really uncomfortable,
it's also why you should never eat food
from an unlicensed Venezuelan street vendor.
Wait, what's the big story again?
Oh, right.
There's suddenly a new president.
Sort of.
OK, you probably already know about Nicolás Maduro...
Venezuela's president for the last 6 years
the one who tries to hide the fact that he's a corrupt dictator... by dancing.
And dancing.
And dancing!
And... ok, the people have had enough.
No seriously.
They've had enough.
Enough of the massive inflation.
Enough of the enforced weight-loss programs.
And enough of the police violence
that's killed hundreds of protesters in recent years,
and four people just this past week.
So now this guy stepped in: Juan Guaidó.
You've probably never heard of him before this week,
because—let's face it,
how many Americans can even name the US Senate Majority Leader?
It's...Martin something...right?
But that's essentially what Juan Guaidó is to Venezuela.
He's the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela.
So like the US Senate Majority Leader,
but 54% younger, and 97% less like a turtle.
But Venezuela actually has two Assemblies.
There's the National Assembly,
which Guaidó was elected to, and is now is head of.
And there's the Constituent National Assembly,
which is a special government set up by Maduro
and dominated by people from his United Socialist Party.
That makes the original National Assembly a sort of opposition group.
It's not like the US Senate and House of Representatives,
which are both legitimate ruling bodies.
It's more like the Great Western Schism of 1378,
in which there were two popes who each claimed to be the legitimate pope.
Or like the Great Eminem Schism of 2000,
when it was unclear which one was the Real Slim Shady.
So Guaidó's assembly declared Maduro
to be an illegitimate leader of Venezuela,
because Maduro's re-election last May
was widely condemned as a sham
and a move towards further dictatorship.
And then Guaidó was like,
"Well, according to the constitution,
I'm the new interim president.
And the professor from the hit Netflix show Money Heist is going to help me."
And Guaidó *was* legitimately elected by the people.
But he was elected as a member of the National Assembly,
not as president.
Nonetheless, he has a number of supporters in Venezuela
who see him as a new hope for their country.
The Venezuelan Luke Skywalker, if you will.
I didn't say Rey.
I'm not willing to be that controversial.
Of course, Venezuelan politics,
like politics everywhere, is complicated,
and just because people don't support Maduro,
doesn't mean they support the opposition, either.
So at this point, Venezuela has anywhere from zero to two presidents.
And the rest of the world is forced to choose:
Do we still recognize Nicolás Maduro
as the legitimate president of Venezuela?
Or the relatively unknown Juan Guaidó?
It's a topic of debate for every country.
But the US has come out strongly in favor of Guaidó.
"Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power.
The National Assembly is the duly-elected representative of the people
and through their constitutional system
and now the interim president, Juan Guaido;
it represents the will of the people."
And now the same position is backed
by Canada and most of Latin America,
including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia...
basically everyone except Guyana and Saint Lucia
—which don't matter—
and Mexico—which does.
Mexico's left-leaning president has said he has a non-intervention policy.
Oh, and Cuba.
But that's not a surprise,
since Cuba's been supporting Maduro since before it was cool.
Not that it was ever that cool.
So most of the Western hemisphere
is now supporting the new Juan Guaidó.
But will he really replace Maduro?
There's still a lot we don't know.
Will Maduro leave quietly,
or will he use the military to put up a fight?
And will the military continue to side with Maduro,
or break away?
Will there be more bloodshed?
How will this affect relations with the US?
After Guaidó declared his interim presidency this past Wednesday,
Maduro gave American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country.
If Maduro does eventually step down or is forced out,
how long will that take?
Because only after that
can Guaidó seriously start trying to fix Venezuela's hyperinflation
and food shortages.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
has said that the US will pledge $20 million dollars
of humanitarian aid to Venezuela to help with that.
And how long will Guaidó even be president?
In theory, he's only an interim president,
until new elections are held.
But historically speaking,
people who get into powerful positions tend to not want to leave.
Because, they say, they haven't yet been able to do
all the things they definitely totally plan to accomplish.
So there's still a lot we don't know, and can't easily predict.
It is interesting, though, to see how some Americans
looking at what's happening in Venezuela
are making assumptions
based on the history of the US in Latin America,
and also their dislike of the Trump Administration.
Like Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who tweeted:
"A US backed coup in Venezuela
is not a solution to the dire issues they face.
Trump's efforts to install a far right opposition
will only incite violence and further destabilize the region.
We must support Mexico, Uruguay & the Vatican's
efforts to facilitate a peaceful dialogue."
It's fair to say that the US has had a checkered history
with coups in Latin America.
And yes, people might be worried about another Iraq, or Libya.
But to say that what is happening in Venezuela
is a US-backed coup is a stretch.
Also, Guaido is not "far right opposition,"
he's a member of the Popular Will party,
a center-left social-democratic party
whose main leader was put in prison, and then house arrest.
Now, without US support and recognition,
the opposition, which has been heavily targeted by Maduro,
wouldn't have been able to get as much international recognition
as they now have.
But the US government isn't talking about
US military intervention in Venezuela.
Ultimately, the fate of Venezuela is up to Venezuelans.
And I know this is weird to say on a show called America Uncovered,
but it's a mistake to look at what's happening
in the world only through the lens of US politics.
Which is how you get conservatives supporting
a democratic socialist and progressives supporting a socialist dictator.
And a former Mexican president supporting Trump.
The world is a weird place.
So we don't know how this will turn out.
But with the US and most of Latin America
throwing their weight behind Juan Guaidó,
one thing is certain.
Something's going to change.
And I hope it starts with importing toilet paper.
Because after food, toilet paper is Venezuela's number two problem.
So what do you think of Venezuela's newly declared interim president?
Leave your comments below.
And remember, America Uncovered is funded
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So please visit Patreon.com/AmericaUncovered
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so we can keep making great content for you.
Thanks for watching America Uncovered.
I'm Chris Chappell.
See you next time.
Hey, guess which other extremely powerful country supports Venezuela?
I did an entire episode about that on my other great channel,
China Uncensored.
Click here to check it out.
Wait... which one of us is the legitimate Chris Chappell?
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