Coup’ under way to topple govt
Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido yesterday said that troops had joined his campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro as the government vowed to put down what it called an attempted coup.
Hundreds of people, many waving Venezuelan flags, flocked onto a highway near a Caracas military base, and police responded with tear-gas as some of the demonstrators broke away to throw rocks at security forces.
The government said it was “deactivating” an attempted coup by a small group of “treacherous” soldiers.
Several dozen armed men in military uniform accompanying Guaido clashed with soldiers supporting Maduro at a protest outside the La Carlota air base, Reuters witnesses said, but the incident fizzled out and did not appear to be part of an immediate attempt by the opposition to take power by force.
Maduro said Venezuela’s military chiefs had assured him of their “total loyalty”.
Guaido, in a video posted on Twitter earlier yesterday, said he had begun the “final phase” of his campaign to topple Maduro, calling on Venezuelans and the military to back him.
The US, meanwhile, threw its full support behind Guaido, with the White House calling on the military to protect the people and support the country’s “legitimate institutions,” including the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
“The US Government fully supports the Venezuelan people in their quest for freedom and democracy. Democracy cannot be defeated,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Twitter.
In a video recorded at Caracas’ La Carlota military air base and posted on social media, the US-backed Guaido said troops had heeded months of urging to join his campaign to oust Maduro.
“Today brave soldiers, brave patriots, brave men supporting the constitution have answered our call,” he said.
“The moment is now! The 24 states of the country have taken the path, no turning back, the future is ours. People and the Armed Forces united by the cessation of usurpation,” he later said in a message on Twitter.
Television images showed soldiers and Guaido supporters on a road outside the base milling around without urgency.
Hundreds of people gradually joined the group on a highway overpass near the base, many waving Venezuelan flags.
Maduro’s call comes ahead of plans to hold a massive Mayday protest in Caracas that Guaido has termed “the biggest march in Venezuela’s history.”
In his video, Guaido appeared alongside high-profile opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez who had been put under house arrest by Maduro’s regime but who announced he had been “freed” by soldiers supporting Guaido.
Tensions in Venezuela have been ratcheted up to a critical level this year, after Guaido, who is head of the opposition-ruled National Assembly, announced January 23 that he was the acting president under the constitution. He said Maduro had been fraudulently re-elected last year.
The United States and major Latin American powers including Brazil, Peru and Chile swiftly backed Guaido, followed later by EU nations.
Although US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said “all options” are on the table regarding Venezuela -- including, implicitly, military action -- there has been no noticeable US military mobilization.
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