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Hugo Chavez was a popular ruler in Venezuela during his 14-year rule and up until his death in 2013 when Nicholas Maduro took over.
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Maduro beats Henrique Capriles in the election by a small margin and becomes president for a six-year term. Capriles thought the election was rigged and so he wanted his supporters to protest.
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Venezuelan security forces arrest opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Many Venezuelans protest against this to try and oust Maduro.
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Democratic Unity coalition, who opposes Maduro, gets control of Venezuela’s National Assembly after oil prices collapse.
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Venezuela's Supreme Court, who sides with the ruling Socialist Party, takes over the functions of the National Assembly. The event sparks months of anti-government protests.
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The Socialist Venezuelan government approves the creation of an all-powerful Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly takes over crucial legislative functions, which causes people to accuse Maduro of undermining Democracy.
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The Socialist and Democratic parties can't come to an agreement for when the next presidential election should be held. The government announces the vote will be held in the first half of the year, so the main opposition parties want to boycott the election.
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Maduro is re-elected over a lesser-known opposition candidate mostly because of low turnout and there were allegations of vote-buying by the government. Latin American governments say they do not recognize the results.
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Maduro goes ahead with his inauguration for a second six-year term, ignoring the advice of many Latin American governments. Juan Guaido was a virtually unknown opposition lawmaker who assumed leadership instead of Maduro, and called Maduro a "usurper".
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Guaido swears himself in as president at the opposition's largest rally since 2017. He is recognized as the country's legitimate president by the US and many of Venezuela's neighbors.
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The United States implements sanctions preventing state oil company PDVSA from collecting proceeds on crude exports to U.S. refineries, cutting off the main source of Venezuelan government revenue to place pressure on Maduro to step aside in favor of Guaido.
