The South American country has been in a downward spiral for years, with political discontent, skyrocketing inflation, power cuts, and shortages of food and medicine. Since 2014, some three million Venezuelans have left the country in search of better conditions. But after a contentious general election in May 2018, things have begun to reach a boiling point.
Most of the current anger and blame for the situation falls on President Maduro and his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez.
The socialist government has been in power since 1999, taking over the country at a time when Venezuela had huge inequality.
Policies aimed to help the poor backfired, resulting in hyperinflation and a thriving black market.
But to understand the current point of crisis escalation in Venezuela, we need to look at the president and the May 2018 elections which led to this point.
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So who is in power now?
The official president is Nicolas Maduro, who was re-elected in the May 2018 elections and sworn in for his second term on January 10.
He was first elected in April 2013, after the death of his predecessor Hugo Chavez.
During his first term in office, the economy went into freefall and many Venezuelans blame him and his socialist government for the country’s decline.
When he was re-elected in 2018, there were accusations of rigging, with opposition parties claiming the elections weren’t free and fair.
But, crucially, Mr Maduro holds the support of the military, which is the key thread tethering him to power now.
Who is challenging him?
On January 23, rallied by the swearing-in ceremony on January 10, the leader of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó declared himself acting president.
In a rousing statement, he said he would assume the powers of the executive branch from there onwards.
The National Assembly argues that because the election was not fair, Mr Maduro is a “usurper” and the presidency is vacant.
The move quickly won support of the USA, the UK, Canada and some Latin American countries, who issued strong public statements recognising his authority.
President Maduro, unsurprisingly, did not take kindly to his rival’s move, which he condemned as a ploy by the USA to oust him.
He said that he was the constitutional president and would remain so.
What next?
Juan Guaidó called on all of those opposed to President Maduro and his government to continue protesting “until Venezuela is liberated”.
However, despite his support form other countries, Mr Guaidó doesn’t have much power in practical terms.
He is the president of the National Assembly, but this legislative body was largely rendered powerless by the creation of the National Constituent Assembly in 2017, which is exclusively made up of government loyalists.
The opposition-controlled National Assembly has continued to meet, but its decisions have been ignored by President Maduro in favour of those made by the National Constituent Assembly.
Security forces, loyal to Mr Maduro, are seen as key players in the crisis.
Mr Guaidó has promised all security forces personnel an amnesty if they break with President Maduro.