Venezuela news Police vehicles drive at opposition supporters as Maduro forces try to put down Guaido's 'military-backed' coup
The protests are expected to last into the night and potentially longer
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Venezuela has seen a day of tumult and protests as the country's opposition leader Juan Guaido began what he described as the "final phase" of his plan to take wrest control of the Venezuelan government from president Nicolas Maduro.
The day of unrest began on Tuesday with Mr Guaido appearing in a video surrounded by troops who he said had put their weight behind the opposition leader's claim to leadership — a claim that Mr Guaido would make repeatedly throughout the day at several locations in Caracas.
As the day progressed, Mr Maduro described the effort to remove him from office as a "coup" dreamed up in Washington, and claimed that he had been assured of "total loyalty" to his cause by military leaders in the country. In a later interview, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated that Mr Maduro was prepared to flee the country on Tuesday morning, but had been talked out of doing so by Russian officials.
But, as images and videos of violence broadcast around the world from Caracas, several officials in countries around the world weighed in on the events, including John Bolton, the national security adviser in the White House. Mr Bolton told reporters at the White House that no options had been taken off the table for the United States, including military action, even though a peaceful transfer of power was preferable.
During those remarks, Mr Bolton suggested that the Cuban government and military was propping up thee Maduro regime. Later, in a tweet, Mr Bolton tagged several senior aides to Mr Maduro to tell them "your time is up."
"This is your last chance," Mr Bolton wrote. "Accept Interim President Guaido's amnesty, protect the Constitution, and remove Maduro, and we will take you off our sanctions list. Stay with Maduro, and go down with the ship."
Back in Venezuela, Mr Guaido called for Venezuelans and the military to back him to end Mr Maduro's "usurpation", declaring: "The moment is now."
There is some expectation that demonstrations — which included reports of gunfire, and military vehicles driving into crowds of demonstrators — would last through the night and into Wednesday.
Thanks for reading along as we watched the situation in Venezuela
Military vehicles have reportedly drive through a crowd of protesters in Caracas, potentially hitting those loyal to opposition leader Juan Guaido.
At least one vehicle appeared to accelerate into the group of protesters, after the military vehicles had been repeatedly hit with objects thrown at them.
Sky has a video of the encounter:
Carlos Vecchio, Mr Guaidó’s ambassador to the United States, just held a press conference in Washington to call on persistent presence in the streets of Caracas.
“This is only the beginning,” Mr Vecchio said. “This is an operation that is developing right now, you will see more events in the hours and days to come.”
Mr Vecchio called for peaceful protests, and claimed the demonstrations in Venezuela are fueled by the nation's people — not the military: “This is not a military coup, this is a constitutional crisis, lead by the Venezuelan people."
He had the following to say to Mr Maduro: “Your time is over. Venezuela is ready for a change, you must facilitate a transition in our country. You must allow the Venezuelan people to reestablish a Democratic system… nobody is going to stop it.”
Senator Marco Rubio has weighed in on the situation in Venezuela today.
Brazil's president has expressed support for the uprising in Venezuela.
Per Reuters:
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday expressed his nation’s “solidarity” for the people of Venezuela, as that country’s opposition leader made a bold new effort to push President Nicolas Maduro from power.
Bolsonaro wrote on his official Twitter account that the people of Venezuela are “enslaved by a dictator” and that he supports “freedom for our sister nation to finally become a true democracy.”
Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized by Brazil, the United States and dozens of other Western nations as the country’s interim leader, called anew on Tuesday for his countrymen to take to the streets on a day he vowed would be the last for Maduro’s stay in power.
“Brazil is on the side of the Venezuelan people, president Juan Guaido and the freedom for Venezuelans,” Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, Brazil’s foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said his country supported a democratic transition in Venezuela. He said Brazil hopes its neighbor’s military will abandon Maduro.
“Brazil supports the democratic transition process and hopes the Venezuelan military will be part of that,” Araujo said.
He added that it was “positive” to see movement of some Venezuelan military toward recognizing Guaido as the legitimate president of their country.
Bolsonaro has called a meeting to discuss the situation in Venezuela as the government receives information on developments there, Vice President Hamilton Mourao told reporters.
While Brazil has recognized Guaido as the interim leader of Venezuela, it has opposed military intervention there to overthrow Maduro’s socialist government.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused opposition demonstrators of purposefully attempting to provoke military violence.
From Reuters:
Russia, which has supplied weapons to Venezuela and acted as a lender of last resort, has accused the United States of trying to undermine Maduro, someone Moscow counts as one of its closest allies in Latin America.
“The radical opposition in Venezuela has once again returned to violent methods of confrontation,” the foreign ministry said. “Instead of peacefully settling political differences, they have taken a course designed to whip up conflict, and provoke breaches of public order and clashes involving the armed forces.”
The ministry called on the opposition to renounce violence and embrace negotiations instead, saying it was vital to avoid bloodshed.
President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Venezuela at a meeting of his Security Council earlier on Tuesday.
Russia has sent nearly 100 military personnel to Caracas, a contingent the Kremlin has described as military specialists. Russian news agencies cited the Russian embassy in Venezuela on Tuesday as saying the Russian personnel were not involved in the clashes between the opposition and the authorities.
United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres is urging for restraint in Venezuela to avoid violence, according to a spokesperson for the international body.
“The secretary general urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint and he appeals to all stakeholders to avoid any violence and take immediate steps to restore calm,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson, said.
He also indicated that Mr Guterres is available to mediate between the two sides if necessary.
Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, tells Reuters that Mr Maduro is in control of the situation unfolding in Caracas.
He "is in his place of command as always, and he is in control of the situation," Mr Arreaza said.
He continued to claim that the "coup" was "directly planned" in Washington.
Mr Arreaza also claimed that Mr Guaido only has the backing of around 30 or fewer soldiers.
France 24's international affairs commentator, Marc Perelman, says that the demonstrations today are a big gamble for Mr Guaido.
“No matter what might happen today, this is a major gamble by Juan Guaido,” Mr Perelman said.
“We’ve seen this over the past few weeks,” he continued. “There was an attempt to have humanitarian aid enter Venezuela through the Colombian and Brazilian borders; that was a failure. And now today, in the heart of Caracas, in the heart of a military base, Guaido is challenging Maduro by calling on the army to join him.”
Michael Reid, the senior editor at The Economist, has compared the moment military trucks rammed into protesters in Caracas to the moment in Chinese history in 1989 when a demonstrator stood up against tanks in Tiananmen Square.
Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has cast the attempts to oust Mr Maduro as a challenge to the country's constitutional order.
"We are worried about reports that there are certain attempts against the constitutional order in Venezuela. We are against anti-democratic methods to change legitimate governments," Mr Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.
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