Venezuela opposition hammers final nail in Guaido’s ‘interim’ leadershipCARACAS, Jan 6 — Venezuela’s opposition replaced Juan Guaido Thursday as the head of a foreign-backed parallel congress, hammering the final nail in the coffin of his "interim government.”

Guaido was recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state by some 50 governments including the United States after elections in 2018 won by President Nicolas Maduro but widely dismissed as fraudulent.

Guaido was at the time the speaker of an opposition-controlled National Assembly, elected in 2015 but replaced in 2021 by a chamber controlled by Maduro’s party after legislative elections boycotted by the opposition.

Guaido was officially left out of a job then, but received foreign backing for a parallel legislature of shadow opposition lawmakers.

Last week, however, the same opposition parliament voted to dissolve Guaido’s "interim” presidency and government, saying in a statement these were "no longer useful” and "of no interest to citizens.”

On Thursday, in a virtual meeting, they replaced Guaido as the assembly’s head with Dinorah Figuera, who lives in exile in Spain.

The United States said this week it still did not consider Maduro to be Venezuela’s legitimate president. And Venezuela’s opposition remains in control of the purse strings to some of the government’s assets abroad.

Guaido’s failure to oust Maduro has caused his public support to plummet at home.

At the same time, President Joe Biden’s administration rewarded the Maduro government’s decision to return to talks with the opposition with a slight easing of sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry.

Guaido lamented the opposition move Thursday, saying the scrapping of the interim government was an "unconstitutional error.”

"The dictatorship cannot be the one to fill this void,” he warned.

Venezuela’s official, though unrecognized, congress also held a session Thursday at which it reelected Jorge Rodriguez as its head.

Venezuela is to hold new presidential elections in 2024, with Guaido a potential candidate, according to observers. There are no term limits to prevent Maduro from running again. — AFP