One Country, Two Presidents: Photos of Venezuela in Turmoil

Venezuelans are living in a chaotic no-man's land as President Nicolas Maduro tries to assure the public that he's in charge while the leader of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, asserts that he's invoked a constitutional rule to declare himself the interim head of the country.

The turmoil, following large demonstrations throughout the country on Wednesday, demanding Maduro's ouster, could seem like just another absurdity for a populace coping with inflation running at more than 300,000 percent, a nearly worthless currency and a shortage of basic goods. But there's a lot at stake, including control of a country that sits on top of the world's largest oil reserves. The economic collapse has spurred a regional refugee crisis as hundreds of thousands of people flee their homeland; the fate of those who remain may rest on whether Maduro can marshal the support he needs to dig in—or momentum stays with an opposition that's already won the backing of world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump.