My duty is to call for free elections because there is an abuse of power, and we live in a dictatorship.
I was 15 when Hugo Chavez came to power in 1998. At the time, I lived in Vargas State, which borders the Caribbean. In 1999, torrential rains caused flash floods that left thousands of people dead. I lost several friends, and my school was buried in the mudslide. The importance of resilience has been etched into my soul ever since.
We remain cohesive and mobilized and united because this is our goal - to rebuild Venezuela.
This is how dictatorships always behave: they deny reality; they deny crises.
It's important to remember that a dictator will not freely relinquish power after having hijacked the constitution and ruled with threats and promises. Sometimes it is necessary to put enough pressure on him that he leaves.
I would like to be clear about the situation in Venezuela: Mr. Maduro's re-election on May 20, 2018, was illegitimate, as has since been acknowledged by a large part of the international community.
My ascension as interim president is based on Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, according to which, if at the outset of a new term there is no elected head of state, power is vested in the president of the National Assembly until free and transparent elections take place.
As president of the National Assembly, I am fully able and willing to assume the office of the presidency on an interim basis to call for free and fair elections.
A pattern has developed under the Maduro regime. When pressure builds, the first recourse is to repress and persecute. I know this because buckshot pellets fired by members of the armed forces - at peaceful protesters in 2017 - remain lodged in my own body. A minor price to pay compared to the sacrifices made by some of my compatriots.
We know that Maduro's armies are riddled with persecution, torture, threats, and wrongful arrests.
To achieve a successful transition, we don't just have to remove Maduro. We also have to rescue our institutions themselves. That's why we have set out three phases: ending Maduro's usurpation of power, implementing a transition government, and holding free elections.
