2016
On 13 May 2016 a
state of emergency was declared in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Nicolás Maduro. The details of this emergency condition were not explained by Maduro but he mentioned conspiracy within the country and from an
OPEC country and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to overthrow the
Caracas government.
The last state of emergency occurred in 2015 due to issues near the Colombian border, resulting in the suspension of constitutional guarantees and the
Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis
The Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis refers to a diplomatic and Humanitarian crisis, humanitarian crisis that occurred in mid-2015 following the shooting of three Venezuelan soldiers on the Venezuela–Colombia border that left them injured and ...
.
Rationale
Maduro accused the United States of fomenting a hidden
coup against his government.
On May 13, Friday night, state television broadcast statements by Maduro saying: "
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
is activating measures at the request of Venezuela’s fascist right, who are emboldened by the coup in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
."
According to Maduro's opinion, the
impeachment process against Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is a sign that shows he was the next one.
In a meeting with the Council of Ministers Maduro stated that the state of emergency decree is directed against "oligarchical parasites and speculators".
Responses
The opposition-dominated
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
started a process to recall Maduro as president, citing as motives bad conditions such as food and medicine shortages, power cuts, looting and increasing of inflation rate, along with complaints of corruption, drug trafficking and human rights violations.
Tomás Guanipa, opposition lawmaker, said: "Today Maduro has again violated the constitution. Why? Because he is scared of being recalled."
In the lead up to the declaration, United States intelligence officials told reporters that they were worried about an economic and political crisis in Venezuela, predicting that Maduro would not complete his presidency.
They added: "You can hear the ice cracking. You know there's a crisis coming."
See also
*
2014–16 Venezuelan protests
*
Crisis in Venezuela
The crisis in Venezuela is an ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis that began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened in Nicolás Maduro's presidency. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation ...
*
Timeline of the 2016 Venezuelan protests
The Venezuelan protests (2014–present), 2016 Venezuelan protests began in early January following controversy surrounding the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary elections and the increasing hardships felt by Venezuelans. Timeline of the 2014 Venezu ...
References
{{Bolivarian Venezuela Crisis, state=collapsed
States of emergency
Crisis in Venezuela
Emergency laws
Political history of Venezuela