Venezuela's Moribund Opposition Stirs With Lawmaker's Emergence

  • Guaido pushes plan to assume presidency in authoritarian state
  • He has won the attention of citizens and secret police alike
Juan Guaido speaks in Caraballeda, Vargas State, Venezuela, on Jan. 13.Photographer: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
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Rallying around a little-known lawmaker, Venezuela’s opposition is stirring for the first time since President Nicolas Maduro crushed mass protests more than a year ago.

For months, citizens ravaged by hunger have ignored calls to protest what the U.S. and many other countries have called a rigged election. Now, a trickle of supporters comes to hear Juan Guaido, 35, the new head of the defanged National Assembly, explain how an abstract constitutional provision could make him acting president.