As Venezuelans commemorated the 61st anniversary of an uprising that saw one of the country’s worst dictators dethroned, U.S. President Donald Trump declared Nicolas Maduro’s presidency “illegitimate” on Wednesday and encouraged other Western Hemisphere countries to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president.
The announcement comes amid some measure of chaos in Venezuela, where people all over the country are taking to the streets to protest Maduro’s presidency — days after his second term in office began following elections that were criticized by Venezuelans and the international community as illegitimate.
In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump warned that his administration had “all options” on the table on how to further respond.
“We’re not considering anything, but all options are on the table,” Trump told reporters. “All options, always. All options are on the table.”
Earlier in the day, the White House released a statement by him calling Venezuela’s National Assembly “the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people.”
“The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,” the statement said. “We continue to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime directly responsible for any threats it may pose to the safety of the Venezualan people.”
Maduro responded by breaking relations with the U.S. and ordering all American diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. Given that the U.S. no longer recognizes Maduro’s authority, it is unclear whether they would comply.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a senior administration official told ABC News, “The order is meaningless.” That could set up a standoff — U.S. diplomats refusing to leave with Maduro’s security forces aiming to push them out.
“Trust me on this one, if Maduro is stupid enough to test @realdonaldtrump by harming any U.S. diplomat, the consequences would be swift & severe,” warned Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who met with Trump and other Florida lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss Venezuela.
For his part, Guaidó tweeted earlier that as the new acting president, he called on all U.S. diplomats to stay in the country and maintain diplomatic ties. He later tweeted his thanks to Trump, too, writing in Spanish, “On behalf of all Venezuela I thank you for your commitment to support the will of the Venezuelan people.”
About a dozen other countries followed the U.S. lead and also recognized Guaido as the new head of state, including a collection of Western Hemisphere countries known as the Lima Group that includes Canada, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru. Mexico was the only member of the Lima Group not to sign a statement of support for Guaidó.
Since Maduro took power after Chavez’s death, Venezuela has experienced a rapid decline in what was already a struggling economy.
Venezuela has been undergoing an unprecedented crisis, with hyperinflation hitting 80,000 percent by the end of 2018, according to Forbes. Since 2014, more than three million people have left the country amid the deepening economic crisis, and food and medicine shortages continue, according to the United Nations.
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