Venezuela’s been worrying to watch lately. After the president-turned-dictator Maduro was no longer recognized by a majority of world powers the country’s been going crazy.
To start we have to talk about Juan Guiado, who declared himself the interim president of Venezuela, after the second inauguration of Nicolas Maduro on January 10. With this plan he is trying to push out Maduro from his illegitimate presidency, and called for demonstration of the Venezuelan people.
The very next day, January 11, we see the streets of Caracas filled with protestors, all opposing Maduro’s incumbency. This continues as we see a group of ex-army officers saying they do not support Maduro. On January 23, it was reported that four people had died during these protests and twenty four were injured. Also, around the same day, Maduro had cut all diplomatic ties with the U.S.
On February 8, Maduro proceeded to block humanitarian aid coming from the U.S and Colombia. Eventually the countries entire border would be closed off. This blocking off aid would keep happening, and on February 23 a truck meant for aid was burnt down and resulted in the death of two people.
All I can think of while looking back on all these events is, “Wow.” It’s a beautiful sight to see people rise against their dictator and protest in the street, but at the same time, some of these people are getting murdered by their own country’s army. It’s quite shocking, and I kind of want the U.S to intervene to help them overthrow Maduro, but only if that’s their only goal. Venezuelans seem perfectly capable of executing their own political agenda and the U.S should NOT interfere with the political side of Venezuela.
Besides the political issues we’re also seeing the best come out of people. We can see communities come together when they’re in crisis. We can see people making sure their neighbors have enough food and water to see the next day. All of the riots and violence in the Venezuelan streets still haven’t deterred the good in people from shining.
But now, all we can do is wait what’s going to happen in the weeks, even months to come.