Xuan Navarro and Dario Núñez) and three other former Mexican presidents have expressed solidarity and support for the new government.

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro (right) and his predecessor and mentor Hugo Chávez welcome Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza (bottom) from his residence in Caracas on February 3, 2016 ©Getty Images

Last week, in his new role, Arreaza attended the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro, a controversial new president from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Maduro has declared “the establishment of a’social revolution’ across the country with a’revolutionary’ leadership” and promised to “save Venezuela”.

In a press conference, Arreaza praised the Venezuelan people for “uniting, mobilising and inspiring, without reservation in the face of an extreme social and economic crisis”.

Arreaza, who used to be governor of a state under Uribe’s dictatorship, called on Venezuelans to “stand against these plans with an open arms” and noted that his administration’s record on social programmes under the Uribe regime included: “a series of significant advances in education, health care and economic assistance for the poor”.

This year, he has made important strides in education and social welfare – especially in the area of social security and health.

On Thursday, Venezuela’s opposition led by former opposition leader and current vice president Tibisay Lucena attempted to seize control of the government’s main legislative offices and force its new president to step down.

In an incident far from emblematic of the social unrest that has gripped Venezuela this year, the Venezuelan security forces shot and killed 22-year-old Luis Alberto Guerrero, an indigenous indigenous youth, in La Guarico district. According to his relatives, Guerrero had been carrying stones and a stick meant to reach government buildings.

Vladimir Chávez died last year aged just 44. His successor is a man widely criticised for having presided over a disastrous social and economic transition in Venezuela that has left the country to the whims of private individuals. It is hard to imagine that these former allies were able to agree on any policies or the composition of the new government.