As far as gambits go, it was a bold one. With opposition to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro hardening as he was sworn in for a new term in January, Juan Guaidó – the 35-year-old head of the opposition-led parliament – had declared in mid-January that he was ready to assume the office of president. Guaidó claimed that he had a constitutional right to take over until fresh, fair, elections were called.He was promptly detained for his troubles, though soon released. Then, last Wednesday, he declared himself president. The United States, Brazil and a handful of other countries almost immediately endorsed his claim, while China and Russia came to Maduro’s defence. At the time of going to press, the military remains on the side of Maduro, but in the streets of Caracas and farther afield, the atmosphere is extremely tense, as supporters of both presidentes worry what will happen next and, particularly, what foreign intervention would do to an already destabilised country. In this week’s cover story we speak to ordinary Venezuelans – and Guaidó himself – to ask what comes next.
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Last week saw another “Mueller Friday”, with the US Special Counsel investigation indicting one more ally of President Donald Trump. This time, it was veteran dirty-trickster Roger Stone. He was charged with witness tampering and lying to Congress about his alleged attempts to connect the 2016 Trump campaign to WikiLeaks.
Stone has been a staple of the dark side of US politics since the Nixon era, and many outside of the States will have seen the high regard in which he holds himself in last year’s fantastic Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone. A phrase it seems Bob Mueller had been waiting a while to say …
Stone, it ought to be noted, has close links with the website Infowars, whose founder Alex Jones has been responsible for fanning the flames of some of recent history’s more outlandish and, frankly, vile conspiracies. These include the idea that murder of 20 children at Sandy Hook elementary school was a fiction and that Hillary Clinton ran a global child sex ring from the basement of a Washington DC pizza restaurant. To most of the world these stories seemed absurd and the idea that anyone believed them, tragic. But to people such Lenny Pozner, whose son was killed at Sandy Hook, these wild stories can be life ruining. This week, Ed Pilkington, chief reporter for Guardian US spoke to Pozner and four other people who have found themselves at the centre of internet conspiracies to find out what the devastating impact they can have.
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