Responses to the Venezuelan presidential crisis
After Maduro's inauguration in January, United States National Security Advisor John Bolton, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called him an illegitimate dictator.
[16] After the 2019 elections, when Alberto Fernández took office, Argentina stopped recognizing Guaidó as President and withdrew credentials to his ambassador in the country.
[17][18] After Guaidó and other opposition representatives were refused entry into the National Assembly in January 2020, Argentina labeled the move by Maduro's supporters as "unacceptable".
[34] Moreover, President Xi said that the current crisis should be solved by the ruling party and the opposition through inclusive political dialogue and consultation within the framework of Venezuela's constitution.
[39] Rosneft has also acted as a major lender, and oil marketer for Venezuela aiding it in selling 225,000 barrels per day in crude supplies overseas.
[42] According to Haaretz, "Erdogan pledged to invest in Venezuelan's failing economy during the trip, with Maduro saying that Turkish businesses would pump some 4.5 billion euros into the country.
"[43][44] On 1 April, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza that Turkey will continue supporting the Maduro government and deepen its cooperation "in all fields" despite pressure from the United States.
[52][53] The US was the first nation to recognize Guaidó after he swore an oath on the 23rd, with Trump and Pence sending their support and solidarity as well as the official recognition; other countries followed suit.
[61] The United States stopped recognizing Guaidó's presidential claim in January 2023, following the vote of opposition groups to dissolve the interim government.
[72] On 4 February 19 countries of the European Union made a joint declaration supporting and recognizing Juan Guaidó as acting president of Venezuela, asking that he "summons free, just and democratic presidential elections".
[74] The EU condemned the Constituent Assembly stripping of Guaidó's parliamentary immunity, calling the action a "serious violation of the Venezuelan constitution, as well as of the rule of law and separation of power".
The United Kingdom, which left the EU the previous year, continued to recognize him,[78] and the European Parliament reaffirmed its recognition of Guaidó as president.
[81][83] Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, gave a different statement to the vice presidential office, saying that Venezuela had received diplomatic notices from some Lima Group countries about the original dispute.
[81] Colombia's statement reiterated the group's resolution and pledged to support "the restoration of democracy and constitutional order in Venezuela", as well as saying that they did not have a position on the territorial dispute.
[85] The group—except for Mexico, which called for non-intervention in Venezuelan internal affairs[86]—continued to back the Guaidó government, with the Foreign Minister of Chile pledging "unlimited support".
[88] Uruguay has since recognized Maduro as president, with foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa comparing the worsening situation to the United States' rationale for the Iraq War.
[93] Mercosur: During a July 2019 summit in Santa Fe, Argentina, the bloc called for "free, fair and transparent presidential elections, as soon as possible" in Venezuela.
The presidents of the four member countries signed a statement expressing concern "for the grave crisis that Venezuela is going through, which is seriously affecting the humanitarian situation and human rights.
[98] In an extraordinary OAS session called for 24 January 16 countries including the US recognized Guaidó as president, but they did not achieve the majority needed for a resolution.
[99] Almagro held countries who remained neutral on the presidential crisis responsible for the massacre, suffering, and human rights violations in Venezuela.
[111] Despite internet blocks in Venezuela, by midday local time, the Twitter hashtag "#23Ene"—shorthand for "23 de Enero", Spanish for 23 January—was trending worldwide.
[116] In January 2019, the Associated Press said that Maduro's administration[117] and Venezuela's state-run media[118] sought to discredit Guaidó with video footage[117] "to paint [him] as a liar and a fraud".
[126] Turkish pro-government media outlets criticized European countries for issuing an eight-day election ultimatum, and called the presidential crisis "a foreign-linked coup d'état."
It also likened Juan Guaidó to Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who played a significant role in overthrowing the Turkey-backed Islamist regime of Mohamed Morsi in 2013 following mass protests against the latter's rule.
[127] When the French president, Emmanuel Macron, visited Egypt, Turkish newspapers Güneş and Sabah accused the French president of possessing hypocritical stances on democracy for describing Maduro's re-election as "illegitimate" but then shaking hands with a leader (el-Sisi) "who massacres pro-democracy protesters" and "[holds] thousands of political prisoners in Egyptian jails.
[298] President Iván Duque Márquez of Venezuela's neighboring Colombia was among the early supporters of Guaidó; an earlier (7–11 February) Colombian survey of 1,008 individuals in more than 20 cities, with a margin of error of 3%, found that his popularity had surged 15 points, partly because of his position on Venezuela, and that 70% of Colombians had a favorable view of Guaidó, and 93% had a negative impression of Maduro.
[303] A pre-23 January 2019 poll by Hinterlaces, a pollster headed by Constituent National Assembly member Oscar Schemel [es] and described as pro-Maduro,[292] reported that 86% of Venezuelans would oppose a military intervention by the United States.
[305] A telephone survey of 1,000 registered voters by Venezuelan pollster Hercon, conducted from 15 to 19 January 2019, reported 79.9% of respondents agreeing with Maduro leaving the presidency.
