Venezuela's Opposition Already has Substitute for Guaidó

Venezuela’s Justice First Party already has someone in mind to replace former deputy Juan Guaidó in case he ceases to be the “interim president” of the parallel government, which the Venezuelan far-right insists on keeping alive.

According to comments made to Miami-based EVTV by political analyst Antonio de la Cruz, based on his work as executive director of the Inter-American Trends think tank, Juan Pablo Guanipa should assume the leadership of the opposition, which continues to abide by the directives of the National Assembly which was in power from 2015 to 2020, during which Guaidó led the coup against President Maduro.

Even though the mandate of the 2015-2020 National Assembly has expired, the US government has maintained the pretext of recognizing its legality, which the US wields as a weapon to undermine and destabilize the presidency of Nicolás Maduro.

According to the logic of the US government, Juan Pablo Guanipa is the second vice president of the 2015 parliament. Using this principle, they will presumably attempt to justify extending the interim presidency to Guanipa, as Guaidó’ś “legitimate successor.”

The scene on the right
These suppositions coming from the far-right were produced after the Venezuelan head of state, Nicolás Maduro, requested that the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) take action against those who actively promote economic warfare against his country, actions for which Juan Guaidó is more responsible than anyone.

“With the way things are going, they’re probably going to lock him up,” said the analyst Antonio de la Cruz.

Similarly, the executive of Inter-American Trends said that the Venezuelan opposition has no political power through which to take action in the case that Guaidó does happen to be prosecuted for his crimes in Venezuela.

“During this moment, Guanipa, who is from the Justice First party, will have to take stock,” commented de la Cruz. “He will have to play it by the book and stick to the constitution, because otherwise, the US won’t have the legal justification it needs to recognize him. So the natural candidate is Juan Pablo Guanipa.”

However, the analyst also mentioned that Guanipa did not take office in the state of Zulia after he won the elections, which his followers still hold against him. De la Cruz expressed his opinion that if Guanipa fails to take up his responsibilities again, he should get out of politics.

Featured image: Former deputy Juan Guaidó speaking at a news conference in Caracas. Photo: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg

(REDRADIOVE) by José Manuel Blanco Díaz with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/KW/SL