Venezuela’s widely recognised interim president Juan Guaidó promised a decisive development in the end game to bring down the government led by Nicolás Maduro on 1 May. It was dramatic but not decisive. In the early hours of the previous morning social media was awash with the image of Guaidó standing alongside Leopoldo López, the opposition figurehead supposed to be under house arrest but released by his captors. Flanked by men in uniform outside the ‘La Carlota’ air base on the outskirts of Caracas, Guaidó said he had won the backing of the armed forces and urged supporters to set in motion the final phase of ‘Operación Libertad’. But he was bluffing, overstating his hand to try and trigger an uprising to topple Maduro. Guaidó’s energy and determination means he remains a significant threat to the Maduro administration as he chips away at the Bolivarian edifice, but the military hierarchy remains a formidable obstacle. End of preview - This article contains approximately 1860 words.
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