The Statute that Governs the Transition to Democracy and the Int'l Recognition of the Venezuela Interim President

Abstract

Since January 23, 2019, several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have recognized the speaker of the Venezuela National Assembly, deputy Juan Guaidó, as interim president until free and fair presidential elections are called. That recognition was a consequence of the repudiation of the 2018 presidential election, in which the incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, was fraudulently proclaimed president for the term that began on January 10, 2019. A few days later, on February 6, 2019, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a special law, the Statute that Governs the Transition to Democracy to Restore the Enforcement of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (the Transition Statute). The primary purpose of the Transition Statute was to regulate the exercise of the presidency by the speaker of the National Assembly acting as interim president, based on Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution.