Venezuela crisis: 5 things you need to know about Maduro, Guaidó and mass exodus

By Brandon Showalter, Opinion writer and social commentator Saturday, March 16, 2019

1. The United States and 50 other countries back Guaidó

The Trump administration is supporting opposition leader Juan Guaidó and has been joined by E.U., and most countries in the Americas.

Demonstrators run away from tear gas during clashes with riot police while rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela April 24, 2017. | REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

The administration formally recognized Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela on Jan. 23 when, as head of the country’s opposition party which controls the National Assembly, he was sworn in as the legitimate interim leader.

The Miami Herald reported at the time that while the decision to recognize Guaidó as the interim president lies solely with Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was actively working behind the scenes.

The senator had been meeting with "several Latin American governments, the Organization of American States and the Lima Group — a 12-nation organization established in 2017 to find a peaceful solution in Venezuela — to promote sanctions against the Maduro regime and to have a plan ready to support the democratic transition and confront the ongoing humanitarian crisis," the Miami Herald reported.

Maduro, however, remains defiant and many in the Venezuelan army remain loyal to him out of fear, deputy of the opposition Voluntad Popular Party, Juan Andrés Mejía, told the BBC Thursday.