At least four people killed in clashes on streets of Caracas
● Tear gas used to disperse crowds ● President holds on to grip on power
At least four people have died and dozens have been injured in the Venezuelan capital Caracas in clashes between opposition supporters and pro-government forces.
Venezuelans heeded opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call to fill streets around the nation, but security forces showed no sign of answering his cry for a widespread military uprising.
They used tear gas to disperse crowds as the political crisis threatened to deepen.
Mr Guaido called for those responsible for the death of a 27-year-old woman, who was shot, to be found. Thousands cheered Mr Guaido in Caracas as he rolled up his sleeves and called on Venezuelans to prepare for a general strike – a day after his bold attempt to spark a mass military defection against president Nicolas Maduro failed to tilt the balance of power.
“It’s totally clear now the usurper has lost,” Mr Guaido proclaimed – a declaration belied by events on the ground.
Acrosstownatthecarlotaair base, near where Mr Guaido made his plea a day earlier for a revolt, intense clashes raged between protesters and troops loyaltomrmaduro.thereand elsewhere, state security forces launched tear gas and fired rubber bullets while bands of mostly young men armed with makeshift shields threw rocks and set a motorbike ablaze.
“I don’t want to say it was a disaster, but it wasn’t a success,” said Marilina Carillo, who was standing in a crowd of anti-government protesters blowing horns and whistles.
Opposition leaders hoped Mr Guaido’s risky move would stir a string of high-ranking defections and shake Mr Maduro’s grip on power. But only the chief of Venezuela’s feared intelligence agency broke ranks.
Some analysts predicted that would make Mr Maduro more emboldened. The dramatic events could spell even more uncertainty for Venezuela, which has been rocked by three months of political upheaval since Mr Guaido reenergised a flagging opposition movement by declaring himself interim president, saying Mr Maduro had usurped power.
Now the struggle has heightened geo-political dimensions, with the United States and more than 50 other nations backing Mr Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate presia dent. Mr Maduro’s allies like Russia have lent the beleaguered president military and economic support.
US national security adviser John Bolton said Mr Maduro was surrounded by “scorpions in a bottle” and that key figures among his inner circle had been “outed” as dealing with the opposition.
The United States contends Mr Maduro had been ready to flee on Tuesday, a plane already on the tarmac, but was talked out of it by Russian advisers. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said such assertions were part of a “global information and psychological war against Venezuela and Caracas”.
“There is no proof there was a Russian plane there,” she said. “The US is big on Venezuela and wants to bring this to an end, but that cannot do that.”
Protesters like Beatriz Pino, who took to the streets yesterday waving flags and banging pots and pans, said they were not entirely surprised by the military’s response to Mr Guaido. She said the late president Hugo Chavez politicised Venezuela’s military as he installed a socialist system. Despite the setback, she said she remained committed to the opposition’s call for protest. “We can’t leave the streets,” she said. “We’ve been in this for years.”
As the stand-off drags on, life is becoming even more difficult for Venezuelans, who are struggling with hyperinflation that has rendered salaries worthless as well as severe shortages of food and medicine.