Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

The Americas

Venezuela's congress names new leader, vows to battle Maduro

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • c65ae0d4-
    Image 1 of 2

    Incoming parliamentary president Juan Guaido, left, takes a selfie photo with his wife Fabiana Rosales and his daughter Miranda Guaido upon his arrival to swears in the new board of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress holds its first session of the year under new leadership of Juan Guaido that is promising a more frontal assault on President Nicolas Maduro as he prepares to start a second term widely condemned as illegitimate. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

  • a5c23082-
    Image 2 of 2

    Incoming parliamentary president Juan Guaido, front center, poses for a photo with his collages prior a special session of Venezuelan National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress holds its first session of the year under new leadership of Juan Guaido that is promising a more frontal assault on President Nicolas Maduro as he prepares to start a second term widely condemned as illegitimate. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress has opened its first session of the year, installing a fresh-faced leader who struck a defiant tone toward socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

In its first act, the National Assembly on Saturday named 35-year-old Juan Guaido as its leader.

He takes over a congress stripped of power by Maduro, whose government is blamed for leading the once-wealthy oil nation into a historic political and humanitarian crisis.

In his address to congress, Guaido called Maduro a dictator, saying Venezuela is living a dark but transitional moment of its history.

Congress opens days before Maduro's inauguration to a second term widely condemned as illegitimate.

A dozen Latin American countries have rejected Maduro, urging him to hand power over to the congress until a valid president is elected and democracy restored.