Venezuelan opposition leader's wife emerges as potent force

Fabiana Rosales, left, wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, speaks to reporters before attending Mass at St. Teresa's Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in New York. Rosales is emerging as a prominent figure in Guaido's campaign to bring change in the crisis-wracked country. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Fabiana Rosales, wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, smiles as she is introduced to members of the Venezuelan community in New York after attending Mass at St. Teresa's Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Rosales is emerging as a prominent figure in Guaido's campaign to bring change in the crisis-wracked country. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

With her youthful energy and globe-trotting, the 26-year-old wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is emerging as a prominent figure in his campaign to bring change to the crisis-wracked country.

Fabiana Rosales' age and informal dress, often jeans, while touring Latin America belie an inner toughness and maturity cultivated with her activist husband during street protests in Venezuela's capital. Her husband has since claimed Venezuela's interim presidency, setting up a standoff with President Nicolas Maduro.

"Look, I am the wife of President Juan Guaido and I will accompany him on whatever route he takes and we will overcome whatever obstacles we face as we have done through all our years together," Rosales said during an interview. "But I got involved in politics because I want to change my country."