Clashes over aid shipment erupt at tense border

CUCUTA, Colombia — A U.S.-backed campaign to force President Nicolas Maduro from power met strong resistance Saturday from Venezuelan security forces who fired tear gas on protesters trying to deliver humanitarian aid from Colombia and Brazil, killing two people dead and injuring about 300.

Throughout the turbulent day, as police and protesters squared off on two bridges connecting Venezuela to Colombia, opposition leader Juan Guaido made repeated calls for the military to join him in the fight against Maduro’s “dictatorship.” Colombian authorities said more than 60 soldiers answered his call, deserting their posts, though most were lower in rank and didn’t appear to dent the higher command’s continued loyalty to Maduro’s socialist government.

In one dramatic high point, a group of activists managed to escort three flatbed trucks of aid past the halfway point into Venezuela when they were repelled by security forces. In a flash the cargo caught fire, with some eyewitnesses saying the National Guardsmen doused boxes with gas before setting them on fire. As a black cloud rose above, the activists unloaded the boxes by hand in a human chain stretching back to the Colombian side of the bridge.

For weeks, President Trump’s administration and its regional allies have been amassing emergency food and medical supplies on three of Venezuela’s borders with the aim of launching a “humanitarian avalanche.” It comes exactly one month after Guaido declared himself interim president. Even as Guaido has won the backing of more than 50 governments around the world, he’s so far been unable to cause a major rift inside the military — Maduro’s last remaining plank of support in a country ravaged by hyperinflation and widespread shortages.

Amid the standoff, Guaido was turning to diplomatic actions. He tweeted that he had decided to “propose in a formal manner to the international community that we keep all options open to liberate this country.”

Earlier, Maduro struck a defiant tone, breaking diplomatic relations with Colombia, accusing its “fascist” government of serving as a staging ground for a U.S.-led effort to oust him from power and possibly a military invasion.

“My patience has run out,” Maduro said, speaking at a massive rally of supporters in Caracas and giving Colombian diplomats 24 hours to leave the country.

Christine Armario and Luis Andres Henao are Associated Press writers.

Cristian Hernandez / AFP / Getty Images Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido take part in an anti-government demonstration in Caracas. Guaido has offered amnesty to soldiers who join the opposition’s fight.