BOGOTA, Colombia _ Twenty years ago Saturday, a 44-year-old charismatic political outsider rose to power in Venezuela and changed the face of the continent. His name was Hugo Chavez.
Today, the future of Chavismo _ a unique political ideology that blends populism and socialism with a strong dose of authoritarianism _ seems more threatened than ever. And the man tightening the noose around Chavez's legacy is another young, charismatic political newcomer: Juan Guaido.
Venezuelans at home and around the world want Chavez's chosen successor, Nicolas Maduro, to step down and clear the way for new elections.
"Almost all the pieces are in place," Guaido told his supporters Thursday, hinting that he was in touch with disgruntled factions of the military. "We're missing one or two pieces, and you know what they are."
Chavez burst onto the national stage in 1992 when he and other mid-ranking military officers tried to oust President Carlos Andres Perez. The coup attempt failed, but Chavez _ the young officer in the red beret _ became a symbol for national discontent. He was pardoned after spending two years in jail and made a pilgrimage to Cuba in 1994, where he met Fidel Castro.
Castro became a mentor and close friend to Chavez, who referred to him as a father figure and a model for Latin America.
In 1998, Chavez ran for president as an independent. His folksy charm and anti-establishment rhetoric struck a chord, and he won 56 percent of the vote, according to the National Electoral Council. When he took office Feb. 2, 1999, he immediately began reshaping the country. Using the nation's oil wealth to push through socialist reforms and build a coalition of like-minded leaders in Latin America, Chavez became a darling of the global left and beloved by many of the nation's poorest. As he built homes, hospitals and schools, his "21st century socialism" significantly reduced the income gap.
But as his power grew, so did the abuses. His administration expropriated thousands of acres of land and hundreds of companies, drawing fire from the business class and the traditional ruling elite. Corruption and impunity plagued his administration. Venezuela became one of the most dangerous countries in the Western Hemisphere, beset by power outages and food shortages.
When Chavez died in 2013 from an undisclosed form of cancer, the country was well on its way to being an economic basket case. Despite having the world's largest oil reserves and vast gold fields, Venezuela hasn't been able to keep its people fed, or public utilities running. The United Nations estimates that more than 3 million people have fled the country in recent years _ almost a tenth of the population.
Guaido was just 16 when Chavez came to power, and he often says his generation was "raised and forged in dictatorship." His political awakening came in 2007, when students spearheaded protests against the government's decision to shut down RCTV television. Mentored by the founder of the Voluntad Popular political party, Leopoldo Lopez, who remains under house arrest, Guaido became a congressman in 2015 but worked in relative obscurity until the parliament's power-sharing arrangement made him National Assembly president last month.
He caught international attention Jan. 23 he declared that last year's presidential election was invalid, that the presidency was therefore vacant, and that the constitution required him, as head of the National Assembly, to be acting president. Within hours, Washington threw its support behind Guaido and dozens of other countries have done the same.
Even people who were once staunch Chavez supporters say they feel betrayed.
German Ferrer was a deputy with the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) until he and his wife _ former chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega _ fled the country in 2017 after denouncing government corruption.
Ferrer, 73, said he was enamored with Chavez's vision of creating a more inclusive, productive and ethical society. But he eventually soured on the revolution as he saw the administration consumed by cronyism and corruption and watched the government gut the private sector and agriculture. The idea was that the private sector had to be dismantled so that a more compassionate form of business could emerge, Ferrer said, "but they never got beyond the destruction."
When Chavez, on his deathbed, picked Maduro to be his successor, Ferrer said many in the party felt cheated. "We know what (Maduro) is made of, we know how incapable he is, and that's why he's made so many mistakes," he said.
Maduro narrowly won a contested election in 2013. After sidelining the opposition congress _ and most of his viable opponents _ he called snap elections in May 2018 that the National Electoral Council says he won with 68 percent of the vote as the opposition boycotted the election. While Maduro says that vote gives him the right to rule through 2025, more than 40 nations have said the election was plagued by fraud and, therefore, invalid.
Maduro sees dark forces behind the latest round of demonstrations. He has repeatedly claimed that he's the victim of a U.S.-backed coup plot and that Guaido is little more than a Washington puppet.
But Ferrer said Maduro only has himself to blame.
"His most damaging strategic mistake was to make himself dictator to hold onto power, not realizing that it would backfire on him," Ferrer said. "He should have let the people truly decide who they wanted as president."
Ferrer, who briefly worked alongside Guaido in the National Assembly, said the young congressman always impressed him with his seriousness of purpose and speaking abilities. Guaido's speeches and mannerisms remind many of a young Barack Obama _ a stark contrast to Maduro's often rambling, graceless deliveries.
Ferrer says he doesn't think Maduro can politically survive in the current environment. He might stay in power a few more weeks or months, but this is the beginning of the end for Chavismo. "As you say in the United States, the hand has been dealt."
