Emboldening Opposition: Canadian Diplomats and Canadian Press

emboldening opposition: It followed Guaido's decision two days earlier to declare himself his country's interim leader, two weeks after Maduro's contested inauguration, according to CTV. But emboldening Venezuela's opposition has been a labour of months, The Canadian Press has learned. Juan Guaido's defiant pronouncement against President Nicolas Maduro -- whom Canada has branded a dictator who stole an election -- marked the latest dramatic development in Venezuela's political crisis. Canadian diplomats in Caracas, with their Latin American counterparts, worked to get the country's opposition parties to coalesce behind the one person who emerged strong enough to stand against Maduro 35-year-old Guaido. They were really looking for international support of some kind, to be able to hold onto a reason as to why they should unite, and push out somebody like Juan Guaido, said one source. The turning point came Jan. 4 when the Lima Group -- the bloc that includes Canada and more than a dozen Latin American countries -- rejected the legitimacy of Maduro's May 2018 election victory and his looming Jan. 10 inauguration, while recognizing the legitimately elected National Assembly, sources say. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.