After Maduro's inauguration in January, United States National Security Advisor
John Bolton, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau, and Brazilian President
Jair Bolsonaro called him an illegitimate dictator.
International demonstrations occurred on both sides. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested in more than 70 cities around the world in support of Guaidó, and demonstrations in support of Maduro also took place.
Governments International : During the presidency of
Mauricio Macri, Argentina recognized Guaidó as the legitimate President of Venezuela and repeatedly denounced Maduro as a 'dictatorship'. After the 2019 elections, when
Alberto Fernández took office, Argentina stopped recognizing Guaidó as President and withdrew credentials to his ambassador in the country. Argentina, however, refused to recognize Nicolás Maduro's envoy as well. After Guaidó and other opposition representatives
were refused entry into the
National Assembly in January 2020, Argentina labeled the move by Maduro's supporters as "unacceptable". In a July 2020 report by the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, Argentina toughened its position on the Maduro's government and signed a petition for fresh elections and denounced violations to human rights in the country. : Brazilian President
Jair Bolsonaro said that he would do all he could to "re-establish order, democracy and freedom" in Venezuela. The Bolsonaro administration declared on 12 January 2019 that it recognizes
Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela. : During a town hall at
Brock University at
St. Catharines, Ontario,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, denounced Maduro as an 'illegitimate dictator' and said anyone should stand up and condemn the Maduro government, which he said has been responsible for "terrible oppression" and a humanitarian crisis unseen in South America for decades. : China was originally forthright in lending support to Maduro with
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman
Hua Chunying stating that China "supports efforts made by the Venezuelan government to protect the country's sovereignty, independence, and stability" and "opposes foreign forces from interfering into Venezuela affairs". In early February there were reports of China beginning to take a more neutral position for fear of alienating potential relationships with major South American countries who support Guaidó, and also possibly due to frustration with Venezuela's inability to repay the debt it owed, China having lent Venezuela US$67 billion.
Geng Shuang, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, stated that China's trade deals would not be affected "no matter how circumstances change," and further stated that China has been in talks with "all sides". There also has been evidence of discontent in China's public over the amounts of money that have been given to Venezuela, which some state would be better used in China. According to the
Wall Street Journal, China has been holding meetings with diplomats from the government of Guaidó to discuss Chinese investments in Venezuela; a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman denied these claims, stating that it is "false information". On 8 March, Foreign Minister
Wang Yi reaffirmed China's opposition to the issued sanctions, and support for dialogue between Venezuela's opposition and government. On 5 June,
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping said that his country is ready to work with the international community to play a constructive role with Venezuela and help the country to get back on a normal development path as soon as possible while opposing foreign interference, unilateral sanctions, the use of force, or threats of the use of force when it comes to the current situation. Moreover, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that the current crisis should be solved by the
ruling party and the opposition through inclusive political dialogue and consultation within the framework of
Venezuela's constitution. : Iran's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman stated that Iran "supports Venezuela's [Maduro] government and nation against any kind of foreign interference in its internal affairs". : Russia has been a vocal supporter of
Nicolás Maduro, as well as being a military and economic ally since under predecessor
Hugo Chávez. Russia has made shows of force, such as flying two
Tu-160 nuclear capable bombers to Venezuela. Domestic reactions in Russia to the situation have been mixed with some publications praising Russia's support of Maduro and its willingness to confront the US, and others criticizing economic aid to Venezuela which they deem an economic black hole. Rosneft has also acted as a major lender, and oil marketer for Venezuela aiding it in selling 225,000 barrels per day in crude supplies overseas. It has made large loans to the company with US$2.7 billion outstanding; to offset risk PDVSA has pledged a 49.9% stake of subsidiary
Citgo as collateral for loans outstanding. On 5 June 2019, following talks with Chinese leader
Xi Jinping, Russian President
Vladimir Putin wished the situation in Venezuela to stabilize. : Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan phoned Maduro to offer support. According to Haaretz, "Erdogan pledged to invest in Venezuelan's failing economy during the trip, with Maduro saying that Turkish businesses would pump some 4.5 billion euros into the country." On 1 April, Foreign Minister
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told his Venezuelan counterpart
Jorge Arreaza that Turkey will continue supporting the Maduro government and deepen its cooperation "in all fields" despite pressure from the United States. However, in August 2019,
Ziraat Bank, Turkey's largest bank by assets, stopped offering services to the
Central Bank of Venezuela. , a former foreign policy official under the
Reagan and
Bush administrations, was appointed the United States' Special Envoy to Venezuela. (US): On 15 January,
US President Donald Trump was reported to be deliberating whether to officially recognize Guaidó, which he did on
23 January. US Vice President
Mike Pence released a video on 23 January in support of Guaidó and the people of Venezuela. The US was the first nation to recognize Guaidó after he swore an oath on the 23rd, with Trump and Pence sending their support and solidarity as well as the official recognition; other countries followed suit. On 26 January 2019, only hours before the deadline, the Maduro government backtracked on its expulsion order, giving US diplomats another 30 days. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo appointed
Elliott Abrams as US Special Envoy to Venezuela. On 28 January, the US imposed sanctions on
PDVSA. The US accounted for 41% of purchases from the company, which is the biggest input to Venezuela's economy. On 22 February—the same day as the
Venezuela Aid Live concert, which Maduro said was part of an effort to topple him—Venezuela extended the deadline for US diplomats to leave by another 30 days. On 12 March, the US announced that it was withdrawing its diplomats from Caracas. The United States stopped recognizing Guaidó's presidential claim in January 2023, following the vote of opposition groups to dissolve the interim government. A spokesperson for the
White House and
State Department said that the US "recognized the National Assembly elected in 2015, which Guaidó had led, as Venezuela's 'only remaining democratically elected institution'." :
Corriere della Sera cited a leaked copy Pope Francis' response—addressed to "His Excellency Mr Nicolás Maduro Moros" Those conditions, still applicable, were: open a channel for humanitarian aid, hold free elections, free political prisoners, and re-establish the constitutionally-elected National Assembly. who held that Maduro's election was illegitimate. earlier, the EU issued a declaration saying it "fully supports the National Assembly as the democratically elected institution whose powers need to be restored and respected". On 4 February 19 countries of the European Union made a joint declaration supporting and recognizing Juan Guaidó as acting president of Venezuela, asking that he "summons free, just and democratic presidential elections". Italy's stance prevented this from becoming an official EU position. The EU's recognition of Guaidó's presidency was withdrawn (although it was never declared by the whole EU block in the first place because Italy vetoed) in January 2021. The United Kingdom, which left the EU the previous year, continued to recognize him, and the
European Parliament reaffirmed its recognition of Guaidó as president.
Lima Group: On 11 and 12 January, several nations of the Lima Group released statements independent from the international body, including their nations' agreement to not recognize Maduro. The Maduro government said that these countries had "rectified" themselves to support him as president. They had not; the non-intervention statements were seen as a concession to prevent rash action by Maduro after he broadly threatened the group. The group—except for Mexico, which called for non-intervention in Venezuelan internal affairs—continued to back the Guaidó government, with the Foreign Minister of Chile pledging "unlimited support".
International Conference on the Situation in Venezuela: Mexico and Uruguay announced an
international conference for countries with a neutral position in Montevideo on 7 February. Uruguay has since recognized Maduro as president, with foreign minister
Rodolfo Nin Novoa comparing the worsening situation to the United States'
rationale for the Iraq War. In April,
Beatriz Becerra said that the international conference had been of no use, given that there had been no progress on the 90-day deadline for elections that the group established when it was formed; she stated that the Contact Group should be terminated and efforts should be coordinated through the Lima Group. : During a July 2019 summit in
Santa Fe, Argentina, the bloc called for "free, fair and transparent presidential elections, as soon as possible" in Venezuela. The presidents of the four member countries signed a statement expressing concern "for the grave crisis that Venezuela is going through, which is seriously affecting the humanitarian situation and human rights." Venezuela's membership of the bloc has been suspended indefinitely since 1 December 2016 in response to the "rupture of the democratic order" in that country. (OAS): The OAS approved a resolution on 10 January 2019 "to not recognize the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro's new term".
Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, recognized Guaidó on 23 January. In an extraordinary OAS session called for 24 January 16 countries including the US recognized Guaidó as president, but they did not achieve the majority needed for a resolution. Almagro held countries who remained neutral on the presidential crisis responsible for the massacre, suffering, and human rights violations in Venezuela. In October 2022, a bloc of leftist OAS member states led a motion to remove Tarre's representation in the organization. Out of 35 members, 19 nations voted in favor of the motion and 4 against. The motion fell short of the 24 votes required for a two-thirds majority. (UN): A special meeting of the
Security Council was held on 26 January 2019 to discuss Venezuela; no consensus was reached.
Secretary General António Guterres called for dialogue to ease tensions. Delegates from Maduro's government continued to represent Venezuela at the United Nations. On 28 February the Security Council voted on two draft resolutions: one from the US calling for new elections in Venezuela, the entry of humanitarian aid, and the recognition of Guaidó as interim president; the other from Russia calling for dialogue between the Maduro government and the opposition in line with the
Montevideo initiative of Mexico and Uruguay. Neither proposal was adopted. The US draft received majority support (nine votes in favor to three against), but was
vetoed by Russia and China. The Russian draft received four votes in favor and seven votes against. In December 2021, the United Nations General Assembly approved the diplomatic credentials for the Maduro government's United Nations representative
Samuel Moncada.
National organizations Tibisay Lucena, president of the
National Electoral Council (CNE), described Guaidó's declaration as a ''
coup d'état'' and said that his actions were carried out by a group of foreign governments, subordinated to the guidelines of the United States government that seeks to undermine Venezuela's sovereignty. She also defended the
2018 Venezuelan presidential election results, saying that "the positions of popular representation are elected by the people". The
Catholic Church in Venezuela, organized by the
Episcopal Conference of Venezuela, released a statement by Monsignor Ovidio Pérez Morales on 15 January 2019 saying "The Church in Venezuela, united to its Bishops in communion with the Pope, declare the socialist-communist regime illegitimate and stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people to rescue democracy, freedom, and justice. Trusting in God, they support the National Assembly". Members of the
Constituent National Assembly stated that Guaidó's actions on 23 February solidified their support of Maduro.
Social media Despite
internet blocks in Venezuela, by midday local time, the
Twitter hashtag "#23Ene"—shorthand for "23 de Enero", Spanish for 23 January—was trending worldwide. Later in the day, five of the top ten trends were protest-related: "Venezuela", "Juan Guaidó", "#23Ene", "#GritemosConBrio", and "#Guaido". With protests continuing to the next day, "#24Ene" also trended. It was reported in the late evening that
Instagram had removed the "Verified" label from Maduro's account, instead placing one on Guaidó's account; this was denied by Instagram. Guaidó's description had also been updated to include "President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela". The following day, Facebook un-verified Maduro. In January 2019, the
Associated Press said that Maduro's administration sought to discredit Guaidó with video footage "to paint [him] as a liar and a fraud". in which Guaidó allegedly said he was under pressure from the United States. and it is impossible to identify the person. of Venezuela's state-run media posting the video, the hashtag #GuaidoChallenge went viral, trending worldwide. China, a supporter of Maduro, has censored information about the crisis according to
Radio Free Asia. Reports from China state that Chinese citizens who criticize Maduro on social media are punished or fined, with economist He Jiangbing saying that the Chinese government is "trying to prevent another color revolution ... because Venezuela and China are very similar". When the French president,
Emmanuel Macron, visited Egypt, Turkish newspapers
Güneş and
Sabah accused the French president of possessing hypocritical stances on democracy for describing Maduro's re-election as "illegitimate" but then shaking hands with a leader (el-Sisi) "who
massacres pro-democracy protesters" and "[holds] thousands of political prisoners in Egyptian jails." Columnist İsmail Yaşa compared Maduro's re-election to el-Sisi's election in 2014, saying that Maduro's 67% of the vote proved that he was "democratically elected," and that since el-Sisi won
his election with 97% of the vote despite a turnout perceived as low, election boycotts, and limited opposition, this proved in his words that it was a "sham." == Recognition ==