Venezuela opposition hammers final nail in Guaido's 'interim' leadership

Venezuela's opposition replaced Juan Guaido as the head of a foreign-backed parallel congress, hammering the final nail in the coffin of his "interim government."

Leftist politician Jorge Rodriguez takes oath for a third one-year term as speaker of Venezuela's National Assembly, as the South American country's divided opposition replaces Juan Guaido as the head of a foreign-backed parallel congress.

Venezuela's official, though unrecognized, congress also held a session at which it reelected Jorge Rodriguez as its head.

Guaido was recognized as Venezuela's legitimate head of state by some 50 governments including the United States after elections in 2018 won by President Nicolas Maduro but widely dismissed as fraudulent.

Guaido was at the time the speaker of an opposition-controlled National Assembly, elected in 2015 but replaced in 2021 by a chamber controlled by Maduro's party after legislative elections boycotted by the opposition.

Guaido was officially left out of a job then, but received foreign backing for a parallel legislature of shadow opposition lawmakers.

Last week, however, the same opposition parliament voted to dissolve Guaido's "interim" presidency and government, saying in a statement these were "no longer useful" and "of no interest to citizens."

Guaido's failure to oust Maduro has caused his public support to plummet at home.

Guaido lamented the opposition move, saying the scrapping of the interim government was an "unconstitutional error."

"The dictatorship cannot be the one to fill this void," he warned.