Venezuela braces for another day of unrest
CARACAS: Venezuela braced Saturday for another day of nationwide protests after President Nicolas Maduro clamped down further on opposition leader Juan Guaido, locking up his deputy in a military prison following a dramatic arrest.
Edgar Zambrano, deputy speaker of the oppositionmajority National Assembly, is being held in preventive detention for “the flagrant commission of the crimes of treason, conspiracy and civil rebellion,” the Supreme Court said in a statement announcing the verdict of a lower court.
Zambrano was arrested by Maduro’s SEBIN intelligence service in dramatic circumstances on Wednesday for supporting the April 30 revolt organized by US-backed Guaido.
Maduro also accused his sacked intelligence chief of being a CIA “mole” and the architect of the failed military uprising.
He said General Christopher Figuera was “the one who orchestrated the coup d’etat” by contacting the group of around 30 members of the armed forces who joined Guaido’s mass demonstration.
“He was captured by the CIA a year ago and was working as a traitor, mole and infiltrator,” Maduro said of Figuera, whose defection to the opposition saw him rewarded earlier this week by the US, which removed him from its sanctions list.
The latest regime actions ratcheted up tensions ahead of a national demonstration Guaido called for Saturday to reject measures taken by the Supreme Court against opposition lawmakers.
One of the other charged lawmakers, Luis Florido, announced in a video on Friday that he had fled to neighbouring Colombia, “sheltered from a regime that is willing to imprison deputies,” he said.
Three others – Richard Blanco, Mariela Magallanes and Americo De Grazia – have sought refuge in the Argentine and Italian embassies in Caracas.
Guaido said on Thursday the arrests were part of a bid by Maduro to dismantle the National Assembly legislature, Venezuela’s sole oppositioncontrolled institution but one which had already been rendered powerless by the proMaduro Supreme Court.
“If we can talk about a coup d’etat in Venezuela, here it is: the dismantling of the national parliament,” Guaido told a news conference, accusing Maduro’s regime of “state terrorism.”
The increase in regime repression “may be a precursor” to targeting Guaido himself, said Latin American analyst Risa GraisTargow of Eurasia Group. “Zambrano’s arrest may be a test to gauge the response of the international community before it moves against Guaido.”
Separately on Friday, Venezuela announced it was re- opening its land border with Brazil after Maduro ordered it shut in February, frustrating Guaido’s attempt to bring stockpiled mostly- US humanitarian aid across the border.
Vice- president Tareck El Aissami said the frontier with Brazil was “once again restored,” and maritime links with the Caribbean island of Aruba were also reopened.
However, the border with Colombia and links with other parts of the former Dutch Antilles – closed at the same time on Maduro’s orders – will remain shut, El Aissami said. — AFP ALGIERS: Tens of thousands of Algerians took to the streets to express their rejection of the presidential election scheduled for July 4, calling for a yearlong transition period, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported.
The protesters hailed the jailing of former intelligence leaders and the brother of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s, as well as the anti-corruption trials launched against several businessmen and politicians.
However, they warned that these measures have not met their major demand for radical change of the regime.
The ongoing mass popular movement erupted on Feb 22 as Algerians opposed Bouteflika’s decision to seek a fifth presidential term.
On April 2, Bouteflika announced his resignation under mass pressure.
Last week, both the interim president and the military institution expressed their insistence on holding the presidential election on July 4 in accordance with the constitution. — Bernama