Talks at Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2021
Juan Guaidó was born on July 28th, 1983 in Vargas Venezuela. His farther is a former airline pilot and his mother is a high school teacher. Juan Guaidó lived through the 1999 Vargas tragedy, a natural disaster that killed many of his closest friends and destroyed his school and home, leaving him and his family homeless. This tragedy influenced his political views after then newly elected government of Hugo Chávez provided an inadequate response to the disaster.
Juan Guaidó participated in the Parliamentary Elections in 2010, being elected as an alternate deputy of Vargas, his home state. In the Parliamentary Elections celebrated in 2015, Guaidó was reelected as a congressman. He held relevant postions such as President of the Anti-Corruption Committee, Head of the Democratic Forces' parliamentary faction, and President of the Electoral Council's nominations committee.
In January 2019 Guaidó swore as president of the National Assembly of Venezuela. Shortly after assuming the legislator's Presidency, the National Assembly invoked Article 233 of the constitution which states that in the absence of a legitimate president-elect, the president or speaker of the national Assembly will become president until new elections. Guaidó became the interim President of Venezuela to form a transitional government and call for free and fair elections.
He is recognized as the interim president of Venezuela by 60 countries and OAS.