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Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro , moved Sunday to consolidate his grip on power by taking control of the country’s last independent institution and sidelining the lawmaker who had staked a rival claim to the presidency.
As Mr Maduro’s security forces surrounded the National Assembly building, his supporters blocked the re-election of the opposition leader, Juan Guaido , as the body’s head. That deprived Mr Guaido of the position that allowed him challenge to Mr Maduro’s leadership.
By the end of a chaotic day, Venezuela’s political turmoil had somehow found a way to worsen.
The country already had two men who claim to be its rightful president and two rival legislatures. Now, one of the legislative bodies has two competing leaders.
That is because after Mr Maduro backers elected their own man Sunday to lead the National Assembly, Mr Guaido’s supporters gathered at a newspaper’s headquarters, and in a dramatic roll call vote, re-elected him to the leadership position.
Show all 19 1 /19Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Twins Yerfranli and Franderlin, 10, huddle in blankets in freezing temperatures at Rumichaca in Ecuador. They have left Venezuela to find physical therapy for their brother whose deteriorating untreated muscular condition has left him confined to a wheelchair
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows A group of walkers devastated at the collapse of their once wonderful country now en route to Peru. New tougher entrance criteria imposed by President Lenin Moreno demanding Venezuelans produce a criminal records check on entrance to Ecuador forces many to enter as irregulars’. Inadvertently placing the most vulnerable of people at even greater risk forcing them to forfeit their right to access to education, health, housing and employment. President Lenin Moreno tweeted on 20th January: “Ecuador is and will be a country of peace, I will not allow any antisocial to take it away from us. I will put together a brigade to control the situation of Venezuelans on the streets, the workplace and at the border. We analyse the possibility of asking for special permission to enter the country. The police duty is to out delinquency and crime and they have my support.”
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Endisma Zuniga, 4, sat huddled amongst her family on the corrugated metal floor of a farmers cattle lorry bound for Ipiales, Columbia. Her tiny hands gripped the flat aluminium tubing of the slatted tailgate holding tightly as it cut through the winding mountain pass road. As the heavy blanket of clouds eventually surrendered to the afternoon sun she pulled herself to her feet squinting, emerging from the cool shadows into the light and basked in the warmth smiling. Endisma’s mother Mariannes,32, explained “we have closed the door on our home for the last time. We have all survived on one meal of plantain a day for months and we can no longer find the essential medication for my daughters diabetes, we are left with no choice.”
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows The familiar site of ‘the walkers’ who have pounded the tarmac for 25 days or more through Colombia, the majority en route to Peru. They are prohibited from using public transport in Ecuador, and if caught they will be returned to the port of entry, in this case Rumichaca border crossing
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Keinya Alvarez, 22, from Zulia sat alone, cross legged on a small stool to a backdrop of mold-stained peeling paint of the kitchen and played nervously with her large silver hooped earrings. To the rear of the damp 12 square metre flat was a dark space with no windows, a bedroom which had to accommodate five people. She said: “We were told many residents of Ibarra were coming to hurt Venezuelans occupying this building, those with children fled quickly leaving what little possessions they had returning to Colombia. As we tried to leave they took all our possessions even our shoes. They burned our passports in front of us.” Today many Landlords in Ibarra evict Venezuelan tenants citing they are all criminals. The emotion for Keinya became all too much to bear, she buried her head in her hands and wept inconsolably. “We have all lost our jobs, and we survive on $3 a day to feed all of us. We left our country because there was no food, we were starving and now we are starving again here.”
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows A group of men gather by the Ecuadorian Red Cross distribution post at Rumichaca border crossing. Walking 1400kms through Colombia has not dulled their spirits as they brave the freezing temperatures through the night. Demanding a $500 criminal record check at immigration for Venezuelans entering Ecuador has indeed reduced the queues at Rumichaca crossing, 75% instead choosing to enter the country as ‘irregulars’. Inadvertently placing the most vulnerable of people at even greater risk forcing them to forfeit their right to access to education, health, housing, employment and as a result are now subject to expulsion from the country at anytime
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Joender Zuniga, 6, from Maracaibo in Venezuela arrived in Ipiales, Colombia, after a 33-day journey mainly on foot. He is one of 3.5 million Venezuelan Refugees that have left their homes following a catastrophic economic meltdown of his country leaving its citizens starving with no access to food, employment, medical services or education. He holds a packet of crackers, a kind donation from one of the many generous Colombians offering support to the Venezuelan people
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Safety in numbers for ‘the walkers’. Journeying alone provides a better chance of hitching a lift from passing traffic but also increases the risk of abduction. Cartels are preying on lone walkers and enslaving them to working in the cocaine plantations to meet the high demands. Women are abducted and face years in captivity sold as sex slaves. Ecuadors National Prosecution Office confirms that the country has experienced over 21,000 cases of sexual assault and gender based violence resulting in 600 deaths in a four year period. Ibarra a city in the Imbubarra Provence recorded 45 deaths in 2018 alone of this nature
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Yuri Mar Blanchez, 31, from Caracas, now lives on the outskirts of Ibarra in Barrio La Tola. She says xenophobia is so bad towards Venezualans that she has remained in her small flat for weeks, afraid to go out
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Antonio Castillo, 31, Keinya Alvarez, 22, from Zulia, had all their belongings stolen and passports burned by a group of residents from Ibarra in the aftermath of the murder of Diana Carolina by Venezuelan Jordi Rafael Lozada
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows The thousand-mile stare of Miguel Trojillio Sanchez, 28, which slices through the cool night air at Rumichaca border crossing. Like many other Venezuelans arriving here, he is exhausted, hungry, cold and humiliated to discover the wold has cast them off as undesirables
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Venezuelan families rest their feet after a farmer offers them a ride in the back of a livestock lorry heading for the Ecuadorian border crossing of Rumichaca
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Yuri Mar Blanchez cannot hold back her tears any longer as she explains how she now fears for her life and the lives of her two children
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows No translation required. Such is the anger and frustration of Venezuela's youth, several wear clothing emblazoned with derogatory comments about President Nicolas Maduro who is clinging onto power
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows William Justice, 43, explains the lack of availability of food to buy in Venezuela is not entirely due to a breakdown in the supply chain but a network of corruption within the police force threatening supermarket managers to leave warehouses open so they could trade the stock through smuggling networks down into Colombia. He said: “I believed I was doing a good job, delivering emergency food boxes subsidised to families who were desperate, just like my own, but, then the army became involved to oversee the process.” Drivers like William were forced to regularly deliver Incomplete loads, forge delivery notes and watch as the precious cargo of food was being offloaded from government trucks to those run by ‘bachequeros’ - contraband smugglers. “Myself and two colleagues refused to cooperate. They were both killed by the army I was given 30 minutes to leave with my family or be killed.”
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Venezuelans refugees attend Sunday service at Quito Basilica in Ecuador and pray for their suffering to end. Venezuelan Bishop Mons Morouta Rodriguez Del Valle spoke at a Sunday congregation in Ecuador amassed in solidarity at the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, he said: “God has no borders….there are no borders in the sky, We have welcomed migrants In Venezuela for many years and learned so much from them. Those who have behaved badly must face the law, don’t judge all migrants as bad people. It is essential we exercise calm and promote peace.”
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows A group of walkers, en route to Peru in hope of finding food and work. They are proud to be Venezuelan and hope one day to be able to return if things improve, although they feel it may not be any time soon. Hyperinflation of 2 million percent and the scarcity of food in supermarkets forcing families in Venezuela to eat from rubbish bins to survive are the greatest contributing factors to the exodus
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Childrens most treasured possessions in a white bin liner, toys and dolls, carried across the roads of Colombia by many parents in the hope it may bring them a sense of familiarity and comfort in an incredibly challenging time
Paddy Dowling
Venezuela’s Refugees: Most vulnerable living life in the shadows Jesus Corona, 38, from Apure in Venezuela, discusses his frustration and disappointment in the total collapse of his country. At Rumichaca border crossing he explains he is going to Bolivia to work with his uncle to send money home for his wife and children
Paddy Dowling
The political chaos comes at a time when Venezuelans are facing economic collapse. Hunger is widespread, and millions have been forced to flee the country .
A year ago, Mr Guaido declared himself as head of a caretaker government, just two weeks after being elected head of the assembly. Standing in the streets of Caracas with hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, Mr Guaido asserted that Mr Maduro’s 2018 election was fraudulent.
Invoking an article of the Venezuelan Constitution that transfers power to the head of the assembly if the presidency becomes vacant, he claimed the country’s leadership.
That claim was quickly recognised by dozens of foreign governments, including the US, which backed Mr Guaido’s effort to take power by imposing crippling sanctions on Mr Maduro’s government.
But to maintain his claim the interim presidency, Mr Guaido needed to be re-elected as head of the assembly Sunday, according to analysts inside and outside the country.
Mr Guaido has been one of the only obstacles for Mr Maduro claiming total authority (AFP) But at the last minute, members of the National Guard prevented Mr Guaido and other supporters from entering the Assembly’s white-walled building.
Inside, Mr Maduro’s party swore in as head of the Assembly a legislator named Luis Parra, a former member of the opposition who turned against Mr Guaido after the Assembly leader opened a corruption claim against him.
The New York Times
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