Venezuelans take to streets as uprising attempt sputters
CARACAS , VENE Z UELA» Venezuelans heeded opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s call to fill streets across the nation Wednesday, but security forces showed no sign of backing his cry for a widespread military uprising, instead dispersing crowds with tear gas as the political crisis threatened to deepen.
Thousands cheered Guaidó in Caracas as he rolled up his sleeves and called on Venezuelans to remain out in force and prepare for a general strike, a day after his bold attempt to spark a mass military defection by forces loyal to President Nicolas Maduro failed to tilt the balance of power.
“It’s totally clear now the usurper has lost,” he proclaimed, a declaration belied by events on the ground.
Across town at the Carlota air base near where Guaidó made his plea Tuesday for a revolt, intense clashes between protesters and troops loyal to Maduro made clear the standoff would drag on. There and 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 motorcycle ablaze.
“I don’t want to say it was a disaster,” said Marilina Carillo, 54, standing in a crowd of people blowing horns and whistles. “But it’s wasn’t a success.”
Opposition leaders hoped that Guaidó’s risky move would stir a string of high-ranking defections and shake Maduro’s grip on power.
Instead, some analysts expect the embattled socialist leader to emerge even more emboldened. Although the chief of Venezuela’s feared intelligence agency broke ranks, most others stood steadfast.
The dramatic events could spell even more uncertainty for Venezuela, which has been rocked by three months of political upheaval after Guaidó re-energized a flagging opposition movement by declaring himself interim president, saying Maduro had usurped power.
Now the struggle has heightened geopolitical dimensions, with the United States and more than 50 other nations backing Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president and powerful Maduro allies such as Russia lending the beleaguered president military and economic support.
U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday that Maduro is surrounded by “scorpions in a bottle” and that key figures among his inner circle had been “outed” as dealing with the opposition.