VENEZUELA IN FLAMES
VENEZUELA’S opposition leader called for a military uprising against its socialist leader Nicolas Maduro yesterday, in a high-stakes move that prompted rioting and bloodshed on the streets.
Juan Guaido said he had begun the ‘final phase’ of his campaign to topple the man blamed for an economic crisis in what was once Latin America’s wealthiest nation.
Several dozen armed troops accompanied Mr Guaido – who has the backing of Theresa May, Donald Trump and a host of other Western democracies – at a rally outside the La Carlota air base in Caracas yesterday.
Mr Guaido called on Venezuelans and the armed forces to back him in mass street protests planned for May Day today. ‘Whatever happens now, we won’t let ourselves be stopped,’ he said. ‘Our process is moving on step by step, in accordance with our constitution. We continue to stand for non-violence.’
Servicemen inside the base later fired tear gas towards the breakaway troops. There were also violent confrontations between soldiers loyal to Mr Maduro and civilian protesters armed with petrol bombs, sticks and rocks.
A white armoured vehicle ploughed into demonstrators, running over at least one. A total of 36 people were injured in yesterday’s incidents, most hit with pellets or rubber bullets. A crowd of thousands, many waving Venezuelan flags, flocked onto a motorway near the air base. One army colonel, a Maduro loyalist, received a bullet wound to the neck during the clashes, which left black smoke rising over the city.
The scenes failed to flare into a full-blown coup, but Mr Guaido’s provocative move could be a sign that the country is finally at an endgame between the two rivals.
US national security adviser John Bolton said it would be a ‘big mistake’ for Mr Maduro to use violence against civilians. He insisted it was not a coup but a case of Mr Guaido, as legitimate president, trying to take control.
The 35-year-old leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly says Mr Maduro’s re-election last year was an ‘usurpation’ of power’.
Mr Maduro’s allies include Russia, Iran, China and Turkey, and a political shift in Venezuela could have global repercussions. The socialist, who has previously enjoyed warm support from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he had spoken with military leaders who had assured him of ‘their total loyalty’.
‘Nerves of steel!’ Mr Maduro wrote on Twitter. ‘I call for maximum popular mobilisation to assure the victory of peace. We will win!’ Mr Maduro’s foreign minister Jorge Arreaza denied there was a military coup and accused Mr Guaido of operating under orders from Washington. ‘It is not a coup attempt from the military. This is directly planned in Washington,’ Mr Arreaza said.
As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to all sides to avoid violence, Venezuela’s army chief and defence minister, General Vladimir Padrino, issued a stark warning of possible further bloodshed.
In all, 36 people were injured, Dr Maggi Santi of the Salud Chacao health centre in eastern Caracas said last night.
Venezuela is mired in a deep economic crisis despite its vast oil reserves, and the Latin American country’s annual inflation rate is currently running at 1.6million per cent. Shortages of food and medicine have prompted more than three million Venezuelans to emigrate in recent years.
Last night the US President tweeted: ‘I am monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely. The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom!’ Earlier this year a Downing Street spokesman said Britain ‘ fully supports the national assembly, with Juan Guaido as its president’.
‘Won’t let ourselves be stopped’