Venezuela coup attempt, Week Three is starting

"Venezuela is Latin America's biggest exporter of crude oil and has the world's largest petroleum reserves." - Brian Ellsworth and Andrew Cawthorne, Venezuela death toll rises to 13 as protests flare Reuters 02/24/2014

"Venezuela claims the world’s largest proven reserves of petroleum, an estimated 298 billion barrels of oil." - Michael Klare, The Desperate Plight of Petro-States TomDispatch 05/26/2016

Today is the second week anniversary of the strange coup attempt in Venezuela, openly directly by the Trump-Pence Administration is Washington, which along with various European and South American countries have recognized National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate head of government in Venezuela, despite his not having control of apparently any part of the executive branch of Venezuela's government.

This is a recent report from Aljazeera, Venezuela's Juan Guaido: 'Nobody is going to take a risk for Maduro' 02/06/2019:

The New York Times editorial board weighs in with a cautionary note in Venezuela’s Crisis Spreads Beyond Its Borders 02/05/2019, even though they call for "an interim government under Mr. Guaidó."

As in any geopolitical struggle, disparate interests are at play, and many include a suspicion or fear of President Trump’s motives and potential means. For the hard-core conservatives in the Trump administration, Mr. Maduro is the failed standard-bearer of the scourge of socialism in Latin America and the beachhead for Russian, Cuban and Chinese influence. Mr. Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out a military option.

The prospect of a proxy war that could spill over Venezuela’s borders horrifies most Latin American leaders, as well as Canada and the Europeans. The Lima Group, which brings together Canada and a number of Latin American countries with the aim of finding a nonviolent solution to the Venezuelan crisis, held an emergency meeting in Ottawa on Monday at which it unequivocally rejected any foreign military intervention. “This is a process led by the people of Venezuela in their very brave quest to return their country themselves to democracy in accordance with their own constitution,” declared the Canadian foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, in a statement echoed by most Latin American and European supporters of Mr. Guaidó.

This comes as no surprise: Venezuela: Juan Guaido will open up oil deals to foreign private companies, opposition leader’s US envoy says Independent 02/05/2019.

A former chief of staff to current actual Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warns, Recognising Juan Guaidó risks a bloody civil war in Venezuela Guardian 02/05/2019:

The recent move by Guaidó to anoint himself “interim president” could bring about catastrophic consequences for Venezuela. Unless the international community is willing to risk a needless war on the American continent, it must urgently create conditions for a national dialogue aimed at reaching a political agreement. This means acknowledging that both the status quo and the endorsement of Guaidó’s claims are unsatisfactory from a democratic point of view, and do not guarantee the country’s peace and stability.

The idea that Maduro has managed to remain in office during the past six years solely through corruption and the use of force is a gross misrepresentation. It ignores that, beyond the president, the Chavismo social movement counts millions of supporters, primarily from lower-income communities, and is strongly embedded within the Venezuelan military. [my emphasis]