RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Having weathered punishing sanctions and thinly veiled US invasion threats, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro hopes to take Congress back from the opposition in Sunday’s elections.
Here is a timeline of the leftist leader’s seven tumultuous years in power:
Chavez dies, Maduro rises
In March 2013, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, — in office since 1999 and initiator of its socialist-inspired “Bolivarian Revolution” — dies of cancer.
Maduro, his vice president and heir apparent, narrowly wins a disputed election the following month.
Protests and crackdown
A deepening economic crisis sparks months of anti-government riots in 2014 that are crushed by security forces, leaving 43 people dead.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is arrested, released into house arrest and finally takes refuge in the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas in 2019.
In December 2015, the price of oil plummets, leading to major shortages of food and medicine.
The same month the opposition takes control of the National Assembly in a landslide election victory.
New assembly
In March 2017, the Supreme Court, packed with Maduro loyalists, assumes the powers of the National Assembly, drawing cries of a pro-Maduro “coup”.
In April, a new wave of protests begins that lasts four months and leaves 125 dead.
Maduro creates a Constituent Assembly to override the opposition-held National Assembly. The new legislative body is stacked with his supporters after elections to it are boycotted by the opposition.
Isolation
In August 2017, countries in the South American trading bloc Mercosur suspend Venezuela, citing “rupture of the democratic order”.
The United Nations condemns the “excessive use of force” and Washington imposes new sanctions.
Re-election
Maduro wins re-election in May 2018, a result rejected as not free or fair by the opposition. The US and the European Union impose new sanctions, with President Donald Trump taking a particularly hard line.
The UN says up to 5.3 million Venezuelans will have fled shortages and hyperinflation by the end of 2019.
Contested new term
Maduro takes office after he is sworn in by the Supreme Court in January 2019. The move is slammed as illegal by the US and a large part of the international community.
Two weeks later, on January 23, a mass protest against him takes place.
National Assembly speaker Juan Guaidó declares himself acting president until new elections can be held.
Eventually more than 50 countries acknowledge him as the legitimate interim president.
Failed uprising
On April 30, 2019, Guaidó releases a video of himself with a small group of soldiers, claiming to have military support. Lopez is also there, having been released from house arrest.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks of military intervention, with Maduro denouncing this an “attempted military coup”.
The insurrection quickly peters out and 25 rebel soldiers seek refuge in the Brazilian Embassy.
Attempted invasion
Days later on May 3, 2020, Caracas says it has foiled a sea-borne incursion by an armed group, killing eight of them. The US denies involvement. In August, two former US soldiers are sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading the raid.
One in three Venezuelans is not getting enough food, the UN estimates, as the country’s oil production falls to its lowest since 1943.
Election boycott
In June and July, the leaders of several opposition parties are suspended by the Supreme Court.
In August, the main opposition parties led by Guaidó announce they will boycott the legislative elections due in December, alleging they will not be free or fair.
Later that month, Maduro pardons more than 100 opposition leaders.
Crimes against humanity
On September 16, UN investigators say Maduro and his top ministers are responsible for probable crimes against humanity — including extrajudicial killings and the systematic use of torture.
Source: AFP
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