The 2020 Barquisimeto shooting occurred on 29 February 2020, when pro-government colectivos shot at the Speaker of the

National Assembly of Venezuela The National Assembly () is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a ...

Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...

and his supporters in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

Lara state Lara State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Lara is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. The state capital is Barquisimeto. Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2015, had a census population of 2,019,211. ...

during a demonstration, leaving ten injured.

Background

A power struggle concerning who is the legitimate

President of Venezuela The president of Venezuela (), officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (), is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan go ...

began on 10 January 2019, when the opposition-majority

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 repr ...

declared that incumbent

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

's 2018 re-election was invalid; that the office of the President of Venezuela was therefore vacant; and declared its president,

, to be

acting president An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death Death is the en ...

of the nation. As of February 2020, Guaidó had been recognized as the interim president of Venezuela by 54 countries, including the United States and most nations of Latin America and Europe.

Shooting

On 29 February Juan Guaidó mobilized a march against the government of Nicolás Maduro in the Juan de Villegas parish,

. Guaidó was in a van at the time of the shooting, which was fired upon by pro-government colectivos. Bolivarian National Intelligence Service agents were also reported of having participated in the attack. The shooting left a total of ten wounded, including a 16-year-old boy. Guaidó's vehicle received nine gunshots. According to opposition deputy , in addition to the wounded, one person was kidnapped.Juan Guaidó, tras el atentado por parte de colectivos chavistas: “La dictadura cobarde intentó asesinarme”.
Publicado el 29 de febrero de 2020. Consultado el 9 de julio de 2020.

Reactions

Domestic

* Venezuelan government:

Diosdado Cabello Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de VenezuelaDiosdado Cabello Rondón, accessed 19 April 2010) is a Venezuelan politician who currently serves as Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace s ...

, president of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, said that the shooting was a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrep ...

attack.Cabello: lo ocurrido en Barquisimeto fue un falso positivo.
Publicado el 2 de marzo de 2020. Consultado el 9 de julio de 2020. * Venezuelan opposition: Juan Guaidó, after the shooting, said that "the dictatorship tried to assassinate me today. They aimed at me. Our only limit is the physical limit".Juan Guaidó, tras el atentado por parte de colectivos chavistas: “La dictadura cobarde intentó asesinarme”.
Publicado el 29 de febrero de 2020. Consultado el 9 de julio de 2020. Guaidó accused Diosdado Cabello of being the intellectual author of the shooting.Colectivos chavistas atacaron una concentración convocada por Juan Guaidó en Barquisimeto.

Infobae Infobae is an international Argentine online newspaper. It was launched in 2002 by businessman Daniel Hadad, with the original headquarters in Buenos Aires. The company expanded globally with local editions in New York City, Mexico City, Miami ...

. Publicado el 29 de febrero de 2020. Consultado el 9 de julio de 2020.

International

The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

condemned the attack against the demonstration. * : The EU issued a statement saying: "Acts of this nature against the opposition and the democratically elected National Assembly and its members are unacceptable and further hinder efforts towards a political solution to the crisis. The right of all political forces and civil society to demonstrate peacefully must be respected." * : The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the shooting and rejected the harassment against Juan Guaidó.

References