Guaidó and the White House Urge Venezuelan Military to Withdraw Support for Maduro

Following the announcement of support from a Venezuelan military general for the opposition, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader, and the United States government once again urged the Venezuelan military to stop supporting Maduro. The Venezuelan Armed Forces are considered one of the most important institutions supporting Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, whose legitimacy has been challenged. For this reason, in recent weeks, the opposition, led by Guaidó, has repeatedly called on the armed forces to withdraw their support for Maduro. On February 1, Air Force General Francisco Yanez urged his fellow officers to stop supporting Nicolás Maduro. Shortly after, senior U.S. officials supported General Yanez's request. John Bolton, National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, wrote on Twitter, "The United States calls on members of the armed forces to follow General Yanez's path and protect peaceful protests in support of democracy." Mr. Guaidó, the President of the Venezuelan Parliament who leads the opposition against Maduro, emphasized in a speech on Saturday that protests will continue until Maduro stops "usurping the government" and agrees to new presidential elections. The presidential election is the main demand of the opposition. They argue that last year's election was not conducted democratically and was held after preventing key opposition figures from participating. Therefore, they have questioned the legitimacy of the current presidency. However, the Venezuelan government rejects these accusations. At the same time, Nicolás Maduro has called for early parliamentary elections. Mr. Maduro has also targeted U.S. government officials with his criticism, stating during a speech to his supporters, "Do you think you are the emperor of the world? Do you think Venezuela will submit to your orders? We will not submit." Guaidó urged the armed forces to withdraw their support for Maduro and "join the people." He stated, "Our request from you [military members] is not only to refrain from shooting at the people but also to become part of the reconstruction process of Venezuela." The opposition leader claims they intend to soon transfer humanitarian aid to citizens from the borders of Venezuela, and during this aid delivery, the military will be put to the "test." The economic situation in Venezuela has increasingly and severely deteriorated over the past years. Inflation has surpassed one million percent, people's purchasing power has significantly decreased, and many basic goods and necessities have become scarce. In November of last year, the United Nations estimated that the number of refugees forced to leave their homeland reached 3 million, constituting nearly 10 percent of the country's population.