Opposition leader Juan Guaido installed a 鈥減arallel鈥 parliament in Caracas on January 7.
The self-proclaimed 鈥渋nterim president鈥 led a group of deputies in a standoff with security forces outside the Legislative Palace in Caracas, while the National Assembly (AN) held its regular session inside. The session was led by AN President and Yaracuy State Deputy Luis Parra, who announced the creation of a commission to 鈥渞estore鈥 constitutional order.
The dice have been thrown and the game is on in Venezuela. This week has seen the country enter into new uncertain and dangerous terrain, although with some predictable elements. We have witnessed different variables develop, and now wait for new elements that may catalyse or justify an outcome.
A new round of United States sanctions against Venezuela, this time directed against three individuals and their businesses, was rebuffed on May 7 by Samuel Moncada, the Bolivarian Republic鈥檚 Vice Minister for Foreign Relations.
An emergency protest organised by , held as the US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Sydney on April 21, drew a range of networks concerned about old and new 鈥 possibly 鈥 nuclear wars.
US President Donald Trump鈥檚 threat to unleash a new nuclear war should not be dismissed as the ravings of an unhinged individual. He may be that, but he has also shown that he is prepared to start a new war and ratchet up old ones.
The US鈥檚 missile attack on a Syrian government air base on April 7 and its decision to drop an 11-ton GBU-43/B (or MOAB, Mother Of All Bombs), the world鈥檚 biggest non-nuclear bomb, on Afghanistan on April 13 is proof of that.
More than 50,000 donations have been made to Planned Parenthood, a US non-profit group promoting reproductive health, in the name of anti-choice Vice President-elect Mike Pence in a show of creative resistance and organising against the incoming Donald Trump administration.