Editing Nicolás Maduro (section)

===Overview===
Shortages in Venezuela and decreased living standards led to protests beginning in 2014 that escalated into daily marches nationwide, repression of dissent, and a decline in Maduro's popularity. According to ''The New York Times'', Maduro's administration was held "responsible for grossly mismanaging the economy and plunging the country into a deep humanitarian crisis" and attempting to "crush the opposition by jailing or exiling critics, and using lethal force against anti-government protesters". An opposition-led National Assembly was elected in 2015 and a movement toward recalling Maduro began in 2016; Maduro maintained power through the Supreme Tribunal, the National Electoral Council, and the military. The Supreme Tribunal removed power from the elected National Assembly, resulting in a constitutional crisis and protests in 2017. Maduro called for a rewrite of the constitution, and the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela was elected in 2017, under what many—including Venezuela's chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega and Smartmatic, the company that ran the voting machines—considered irregular voting conditions; the majority of its members were pro-Maduro. On 20 May 2018, presidential elections were called prematurely; opposition leaders had been jailed, exiled, or forbidden to run, there was no international observation, and tactics to suggest voters could lose their jobs or social welfare if they did not vote for Maduro were used. The majority of nations in the Western world did not recognize the Constituent Assembly election or the validity of Maduro's 2018 reelection; the Canadian, Panamanian, and the United States governments sanctioned Maduro.

Maduro has been described as a "dictator", and an Organization of American States (OAS) report determined that [[crimes against humanity]] have been committed during his presidency. Maduro allies including China, Cuba, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Serbia support and denounce what they call interference in Venezuela's domestic affairs. AP News reported that "familiar geopolitical sides" had formed in the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, with allies Russia, China, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey, and Serbia supporting Maduro, and the US, Canada, the rest of South America, European Union, Israel, South Korea, Japan, and Australia supporting Guaidó as interim president. Amid widespread condemnation, President Maduro was sworn in on January 10<sup>th</sup>, 2019, and the President of the National Assembly, Guaidó, was declared the interim President by that body on January 23<sup>rd</sup>, 2019. Maduro's government states that the crisis is a "coup d'état led by the United States to topple him and control the country's oil reserves." Guaidó denies the coup allegations, saying peaceful volunteers back his movement. He is also friends with other authoritarian leaders like [[Daniel Ortega]], [[Vladimir Putin]], [[Xi Jinping]], [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], [[Bashar al-Assad]], [[Kim Jong-un]], [[Alexander Lukashenko]], and [[Aleksandar Vučić|Aleksandar Vučić.]] However, not all authoritarian leaders are friends with him as he is enemies with [[Jair Bolsonaro]], [[Viktor Orbán]], and [[Benjamin Netanyahu]].