Venezuela’s opposition leader is to return to his home country after more than a month abroad consolidating support.
Juan Guaido, 35, who has declared himself the interim president of Venezuela as pressure mounts on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step aside, said he is heading to Venezuela from the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. He is due to take a commercial flight to Caracas via Colombia, and could arrive back in time for the country’s Carnival celebrations on Monday.
Venezuela’s highest court has banned Guaido, leader of the democratically-elected National Assembly, after he invoked the national constitution and declared himself the new leader of the South American nation in January. He broke the court order, which revoked his passport, by entering nearby Colombia. Guaido had been traveling at the invitation of foreign leaders.
The U.S. and most of Europe has recognized Guaido’s presidency. Some members of Maduro’s regime have been calling for Guaido’s return, with the international community fearful of Guaido’s safety once he arrives back to Venezuela.
Guaido has spent the past month in other countries – including Colombia, Brazil, and Ecuador – working with international organizations and making humanitarian aid arrangements. He was the Venezuelan representative at the Lima Group summit in Bogota last week in which Vice President Mike Pence was in attendance.
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