Friday 13 International Friday, January 25, 2019 Juan Guaido: The ‘kid’ assigned to take on Venezuela’s Maduro CARACAS: He will need to be: the bold young politician, head of majority to officially declare Maduro a “usurper” and his re-election Venezuela’s opposition-controlled legislature, became public a fraud, while promising an amnesty for all military and government enemy number one when he declared himself interim president officials who disavow the president. He has gained confidence along Wednesday, defying embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido the way, grinning at rallies and speaking with greater ease. did not set out to supplant Maduro, the socialist president who has What he hasn’t found a solution to, though, is his powerlessness presided over a spiraling political and economic crisis in Venezuela. in the face of a government that retains the support of the military But the sometimes reserved 35-year-old was thrust to the front high command and the Supreme Court. Guaido has not been shy in of the Venezuelan opposition when more senior leaders were forced reaching out to the armed forces seeking the backing he would from the scene — some detained, some banned from politics and need to take power definitively. “I’m a survivor, not a victim,” he has some pushed into exile. Guaido brazenly called out Maduro as he said, recalling how he survived one of Venezuela’s worst natural dis- took a revised oath of office before a crowd of thousands in Cara- asters as a teenager: the Vargas tragedy of December 1999, when cas, saying, “I swear to formally assume the national executive pow- mudslides caused by torrential rain killed thousands of people. Back ers as acting president of Venezuela to end the usurpation, (install) then, Guaido lived with his mother and five siblings in the coastal a transitional government and hold free elections.” state of Vargas. “I know what it means to be hungry,” he said. US President Donald Trump immediately recognized him as His introduction to politics came alongside the generation of stu- Venezuela’s interim president, followed by a string of countries dents that held mass protests against Chavez in 2007. That move- across the region. Maduro, the hand-picked successor to late leftist ment inflicted Chavez’s only electoral defeat, in a referendum on firebrand Hugo Chavez, calls Guaido “a kid playing at politics.” But reforming the constitution. “Guaido is a fresh face, considered a the self-declared interim president, an industrial engineer by train- man of consensus by the moderates and also respected by the rad- ing, has shown no fear in challenging the socialist leader’s election icals for having taken part in those protests,” Diego Moya-Ocam- CARACAS: Venezuela’s National Assembly head Juan Guaido declares to a second term, in a May vote that was boycotted by the oppo- pos, an analyst at London-based IHS Markit consultants, told AFP. himself the country’s “acting president” during a mass opposition sition and rejected by the United States, European Union and a Guaido was a founding member of the Popular Will (VP) party in rally against leader Nicolas Maduro, on the anniversary of a 1958 up- dozen Latin American countries. 2009 and has now become its most recognizable face. Previous rising that overthrew military dictatorship. — AFP Guaido, who became the youngest person ever to preside over leader Leopoldo Lopez is under house arrest for leading anti- the legislature on January 5, has never been a great public speaker. Maduro protests in 2014, and his heir apparent, Freddy Guevara, he won’t prove a fraud,” said Jose Hernandez, a 24-year-old admin- But he is known as a talented coalition-builder — something fled to the Chilean embassy after he was accused of inciting violent istrator, at a recent rally in support of Guaido. Venezuela’s divided and disorganized opposition badly needs. “One protests in 2017. Mejia, his legislative colleague, says Guaido is playing “a difficult of his main virtues is arming teams. He understands the differing game”: Venezuela is “used to personality cults and authoritarian positions and does everything in his power to bring them together,” Living dangerously leadership, and that’s placing a big burden on Juan. Change doesn’t 32-year-old lawmaker Juan Andres Mejia told AFP. Guaido, who took part in those protests, was elected deputy for depend only on him, it’s down to everyone.” Guaido was briefly de- his native Vargas in 2015. He caused ripples by accusing state oil tained by intelligence agents on January 13. But he was released ‘Fresh face’ company PDVSA of corruption, but remained a relative unknown after less than an hour. The government later blamed the incident In his short tenure as legislative leader, Guaido got the opposition until recently. “To be honest, I didn’t know who he was. Hopefully on rogue agents acting unilaterally, arresting 12 people. — AFP .