2017: Protests and Constituent Assembly
New protests broke out in April 2017 and left more than 120 dead in five months.
An official Constituent Assembly with absolute power -totally Chavista- is elected on July 30. The body assumes powers of Parliament.
2018: Reelection
The Constituent Assembly advances the presidential elections to May 20, 2018.
The bulk of the opposition boycotts them, denouncing them as a fraud. Maduro wins with 68% of the votes among high abstention.
On August 4, two drones loaded with explosives explode near the stage where Maduro was presiding over a military parade. There are no fatalities.
2019: Guaidó emerges
On January 23, 2019, the head of Parliament, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself in a square “president in charge” of Venezuela with the support of the United States and fifty countries, who are unaware of Maduro’s re-election.
On April 30, in front of a military base in Caracas, Guaidó called on the Armed Forces to rise up. He is accompanied by his mentor López, surprisingly released, who flees to Spain after the failure of the uprising.
Washington increases the pressure and imposes an oil embargo.
2020: Operation Gideon
After a journalistic investigation linked them to businessman Alex Saab, prosecuted in the United States for money laundering and close to Maduro, a group of opposition legislators rebelled against Guaidó with the support of Chavismo. Most of the opposition congressmen, however, renew their support.
