***Please Note: As part of the Council’s efforts to grow our Global Young Professionals group, this event is only intended for young professionals 40 and under. The Council’s event with President Guaidó on Thursday, October 12th is open to all ages.***

6:00 – 7:00PM – Reception & Networking

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Former Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaidó is a vocal leader and long-time focal point of the Venezuelan opposition. In 2019, as the last institution not controlled by the Maduro regime, the National Assembly voted to appoint Guaidó as Interim President of Venezuela to lead an interim Venezuelan government until free and fair elections could be held.

The Interim Government lead by Guaidó was recognized by most nations in the West including the U.S. and most of Latin America and Europe. Control of many embassies was given to the opposition’s Interim Government, along with management of billions of dollars of previously frozen Venezuelan assets, such as Houston-based refiner CITGO. But China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and others maintained their strong support of Maduro.

From an air force base in Caracas and with the support of some members of the military, Guaidó launched ‘Operation Freedom’ – a call to the people of Venezuela to take to the streets and force Maduro to leave office. While the movement did have the popular support of large numbers of ordinary Venezuelans, Maduro labelled the effort as a ‘coup’ and most of the nation’s military leaders did not rise up. Many charge that Venezuelan generals make massive amounts from drug trafficking with the support of the current regime, so they are unwilling to stand against Maduro.

President Guaidó was the special guest of President Trump at his final State of the Union address and had the support of President Biden and other world leaders. But with Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year and large sanctions on Russian oil exports, a potential need for increased Venezuelan production complicated the U.S. and European approaches to Maduro.

President Guaidó will address the realities on the ground in Venezuela and the current state and outlook for the political opposition. He will also assess the ongoing degrees of support for the opposition and democracy in Venezuela by the U.S., important Latin American neighbors and other nations in the West.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Juan Guaidó was born on July 28th, 1983 in Vargas, Venezuela. Juan spent his childhood in Los Corales, a small town on the outskirts of La Guaira (a coastal city with the main maritime port and largest international airport in the country). His father is a former airline pilot, and his mother is a high school teacher. Juan Guaidó lived through the 1999 Vargas tragedy, a natural disaster that killed many of his closest friends and also destroyed his school and home, leaving him and his family homeless. The tragedy, according to his colleagues, influenced his political views after the newly elected government of Hugo Chávez provided an ineffective response to the disaster.

Guaidó studied industrial engineering at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB).  At UCAB he was one of the founders of the Venezuelan Student Movement. After the 2007 Venezuelan protests, where Guaidó played an important role, he helped found “Voluntad Popular” party in 2009. During this time, he met his wife and mother of his children Fabiana Rosales an activist from Mérida, Venezuela.

On January 2019 Guaidó was chosen as president of the National Assembly of Venezuela. Shortly after assuming the presidency of the parliament, he was sworn in as Interim President of the Republic due to the lack of a legitimate presidency in Venezuela as stated in articles 233 and 333 of the National Constitution. He fulfilled his obligation until December 2022 and during this time he was recognized as the Interim President of Venezuela by 60 countries and the OAS – Organization of American States.