Venezuela is a South American country that many consider to be on decline after their revolution in 1999. Many average citizens are living in extreme poverty without access to basic necessities like food and medicine. Recently many Venezuelans have been sick of the suffering and are wanting change, and it looks like change is coming and it may be bloody. Recently, opposition leader Juan Guaido has declared himself as interim president, and called for elections on February 3rd, because of controversy that previous elections were rigged., which of course never happened. Guaido has earned US and European support, and a US and EU backed coup may be coming soon. European countries such as the UK, France, Germany, Spain and many more have all supported Guaido and called for current President Maduro to step down.
Additionally current President Nicolas Maduro was asked if the current crisis in Venezuela could result in a civil war. He responded with “Everything depends on the level of madness and aggressiveness of the northern empire [the US] and its Western allies.” President Trump has told CBS that the use of military force would remain an option. Current President Nicolas Maduro has gone on record saying that military force from the US “could be worse than Vietnam, ” which was a conflict considered by many to be a failure and embarrassment of the US military. With the threat of US and EU intervention, many pro-government militia groups have appeared in Venezuela in support of Maduro. It appears we will have to wait and see how this situation unfolds.
William Coleman ’23