On Jan. 23, the political crisis in Venezuela took an interesting turn when Juan Guaidó—a little-known politician—declared himself as the country’s legitimate interim president. This event is the result of an ongoing crisis which began with the death of the longtime socialist leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, in 2013.
Unsurprisingly, Venezuela’s current president, Nicolas Maduro, took offence with this declaration. Maduro was further incensed by the decision of the U.S. and 11 other nations—including Canada—to officially recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. This turn of events feels familiar to anyone who is aware of the U.S.’s long history of setting up coups in Latin American countries to depose governments it doesn’t approve of.
However, Canada has historically steered clear of supporting any interventionist policies in Latin America, thus prompting everyone to question why they are choosing to do so now.
Until this point, Canada’s involvement in this crisis was limited to its membership in the Lima group, an association of 14 countries that have been applying political and economic pressure on Maduro’s regime with the aim of restoring democracy.
It seems that the Canadian government has decided to up the ante by refusing to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and instead officially recognize Guaidó’s presidential legitimacy instead—with the caveat that he must hold a free and fair election in 30 days.
Rejecting Maduro’s legitimacy is understandable because he essentially rigged the last election in his favour by banning two of the most popular opposition leaders from running.
But, deciding to recognize a mostly-unknown party as the legitimate leader of a country currently experiencing heavy political turmoil is unwise.
“Canada should be wary of mimicking the U.S.’s interventionist foreign policy, given the country’s history of self-serving meddling in the region.” – Moira Munaaba, third-year communications and media studies.
Guaidó is a wild card in this situation. Little information exists on his political career or abilities. He came into power promising to carry out democratic elections within 30 days, but does he have the political capabilities to follow through with that promise?
Previously, Guaidó’s opposition party failed to oust Maduro’s government and it is unlikely they will be able to in just 30 days. Maduro still retains the support of most of the military and enjoys significant support from his political base. It is inevitable that he will use these advantages to weaken any attempts to undermine his regime.
Guaidó’s public reception of foreign support might be the excuse he needs to justify any harsh crackdowns on protesters and thwarting any progress made towards the organization of another election.
Because of this foreign support, he can now claim that demonstrations or action against him are being carried out with the aid of foreign powers attempting to illegally intervene in their affairs.
Additionally, by publicly recognizing Guaidó’s regime, Canada may be unwittingly participating in setting the stage for a proxy war within Venezuela between the U.S. and its allies: China, Turkey, and Russia.
Canada should be wary of mimicking the U.S.’s interventionist foreign policy, given the country’s history of self-serving meddling in the region.
There are other less politically-complicated solutions that the Canadian government could pursue if they truly want to help the Venezuelan people—including letting them choose the fate of their country without foreign interference.
As it stands, it may be that Guaidó’s actions and the actions of the international community who support him—Canada included—are just adding kerosene to a fire in which the only people being burned are the Venezuelans.
