VENEZUELA’S SELF-PROCLAIMED INTERIM PRESIDENT SAID AGENTS FROM A FEARED SPECIAL POLICE UNIT WENT TO HIS HOME.
HE TOLD THEM: ‘I WILL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY THREAT TO MY BABY.’
CARACAS • Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, said on Thursday that agents from a feared special police unit had called at his home, a sign of increasing pressure on the opposition leader trying to replace socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
The police had asked for his wife, who was at home with their 20-month-old daughter while he was out at an event, said Guaido.
“I will hold you responsible for any threat to my baby,” Guaido said at the end of a public event in Caracas. Guaido, the 35-year-old leader of the National Assembly, then left for home, asking diplomats to accompany him.
The United States, which backs Guaido, has warned of “serious consequences” if Maduro’s government harms him.
Guaido later appeared at his building with his wife and daughter, saying “they will not intimidate this family.” Neighbours said men who identified themselves as belonging to the Special Actions Forces arrived at the gate of his apartment building in a white SUV. There was no obvious police presence by the time journalists arrived at Guaido’s house.
The political fight between Maduro, sworn in for a second term this month, and Guaido, who declared himself interim president last week, has drawn in foreign powers.
On one side of the tussle for control of Venezuela — an OPEC member with the world’s largest oil reserves but in dire financial straits — Guaido and Western backers led by the United States are insisting on an immediate transition and fresh elections.
On the other, Maduro, with backing from Russia, China and Turkey, says he will remain for his second six-year term despite accusations of fraud in his re-election last year and the economic meltdown. He has accused the opposition of attempting a U.S.-backed coup.
Maduro, who first took office in 2013, has faced waves of protests in recent years as he presided over the collapse of the economy, with hyperinflation and food shortages.
As it seeks to shore up support for Guaido, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on state-run oil firm PDVSA on Monday, aimed at curbing Venezuela’s crude exports.
A United Nations human rights expert denounced the sanctions, saying they would compound a humanitarian crisis.