Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido admitted Wednesday that this week’s anti-government protests lacked the support of enough military defectors to topple the country’s embattled President Nicolas Maduro.
Just the day before, Guaido had announced that the attempt to oust Maduro’s government was entering its “final phase,” kicking off two days of protests, some of which turned violent.
Guaido, the current head of the National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president, had hoped that the Tuesday announcement and ensuing protests would convince key members of the military to defect.
“We have to acknowledge that yesterday there were not enough (people), we have to insist that all the armed forces protest together,” Guaido said Wednesday. “We are not asking for a confrontation. We are not asking for a confrontation among brothers, it’s the opposite. We just want them to be on the side of the people.”
Guaido also called on public sector employees to strike.
Photos: In photos: Venezuela in crisis
A woman demonstrates in front of police outside the Venezuelan navy headquarters in Caracas on Saturday, May 4.
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Anti-government demonstrators gather in Caracas on Sunday, May 5.
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Opposition leader Juan Guaido gives a speech to opposition leaders and workers for the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA on Friday, May 3.
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In this handout photo, released by the Miraflores Press Office, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, center, is accompanied by military officers as he arrives for a meeting with troops at Caracas' Fort Tiuna on Thursday, May 2.
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Opposition activist Leopoldo Lopez speaks to the media at the gate of the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas on May 2. Lopez is meant to be on house arrest, but he said on Twitter that he was released by the military. He and his family have been received as guests by Spanish Ambassador Jesús Silva Fernández following his release.
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Journalists carry reporter Gregory Jaimes, who was injured Wednesday, May 1, while covering clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in Caracas.
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Anti-government protesters clash with security forces during the May Day protests in Caracas.
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Anti-government protesters clash with security forces on May 1.
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National Police forces detain anti-government protesters near the La Carlota airbase during clashes in Caracas on May 1.
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Guaido, who has been recognized by many countries as Venezuela's interim president, speaks during a rally in Caracas on May 1.
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Members of Venezuela's National Guard clash with protesters on May 1.
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Anti-government protesters prepare to clash with security forces in Caracas.
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A Maduro supporter displays a poster of him during a rally on May 1.
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An anti-government protester is assisted during clashes with security forces on May 1.
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Members of Venezuela's National Militia attend a pro-government rally in Caracas on May 1.
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Members of the military who support Guaido fire into the air to repel forces loyal to Maduro on Tuesday, April 30. The Maduro forces were trying to disperse a demonstration near the La Carlota base.
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An opposition demonstrator is struck by a Venezuelan National Guard vehicle on a street near the La Carlota airbase on April 30.
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A demonstrator throws a Molotov cocktail at National Guard security forces near the La Carlota airbase on April 30.
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An opposition demonstrator passes by a government bus that was set on fire during clashes on April 30.
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Fireworks launched by Maduro opponents land near National Guard armored vehicles.
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An anti-government protester walks near a bus that was set on fire by Maduro opponents on April 30.
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Maduro, center, gives a live televised address on April 30. "We have been facing various forms of coup d'etat, due to the obsessive efforts of the Venezuelan right, the Colombian oligarchy and the US empire," he said. He accused "imperialist" forces of seeking "to attack and overthrow a legitimate government to enslave Venezuela."
Guaido, center, appears before reporters and photographers outside the airbase in Caracas. To his right is opposition activist Leopoldo Lopez, who is essentially his predecessor.
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Lopez raises his fist to a crowd of supporters in Caracas on April 30. Lopez is meant to be on house arrest, but he said on Twitter that he was released by the military.
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People who oppose Maduro confront troops who were firing tear gas at them outside the La Carlota airbase on April 30.
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Maduro opponents face off with Maduro loyalists in armored vehicles.
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Opposition demonstrators help an injured man near the airbase.
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A handgun belonging to a soldier is seen on the ground, along with bullets.
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An opposition demonstrator throws back a tear-gas canister.
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A water cannon in sprayed on Maduro opponents in Caracas on April 30.
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Soldiers who oppose Maduro's government take cover on an overpass.
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Military members loyal to Maduro run under a cloud of tear gas after being repelled with rifle fire from pro-Guaido military members on April 30.
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Opposition demonstrators prepare Molotov cocktails during clashes with soldiers loyal to Maduro.
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Soldiers who have joined Guaido's cause take position during clashes with Maduro loyalists in Caracas.
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A pro-Guaido military member throws a tear-gas canister during a confrontation with guards loyal to Maduro.
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Opposition supporters march near the airbase.
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A woman affected by tear gas is aided by fellow opponents of Maduro.
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A person opposed to the Maduro government returns a tear-gas canister to the pro-Maduro soldiers who launched it.
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Military members gesture near the airbase. The blue armbands were worn in solidarity to the opposition.
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Manaure Quintero/Reuters
More than 100 people were injured in this week’s demonstrations, according to the independent Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict.
Human Rights Watch reported that 168 people were detained and said it believed that security forces fired shotgun pellets at demonstrators and journalists. A CNN crew saw what appeared to be birdshot and shotgun shells lying on the streets in Caracas after a protest, but it was unclear how old they were.
Earlier this week, Guaido scored an apparent victory when the former head of Venezuela’s security services appeared to quit.
In an open letter “to the people of Venezuela” making the rounds on social media, Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera accused the Maduro regime of plundering the country. Hours after the letter surfaced, Maduro announced Figuera would be replaced, without explaining why.
A US government official told CNN Wednesday that Washington believes the letter is genuine.
Two ‘days of action’
Maduro has blamedUS President Donald Trump for what he called Tuesday’s “coup-de-etat attempt.” In his first public appearance since the protests began, he appealed to supporters for their “utmost loyalty” and urged them to take to the streets to fight for democracy.
What comes next is unclear.
Maduro called for two “days of action” over the coming weekend, asking all elected officials to unite for the people of Venezuela.
Trump said that Thursday is “probably going to be very bad.”
“It’s a terrible thing. People are starving, people are dying. There’s no food, there’s no water,” the US President said in an interview with Fox Business. “It’s an incredible mess.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said military action is possible and “if that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do.” Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the Pentagon had “done exhaustive planning, so there’s not a situation or scenario that we don’t have a contingency for.”
’Good old-fashioned power politics’
Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, have for years been accused of triggering a humanitarian catastrophe through their hardline socialist economic policies. Maduro says he was democratically elected and the current efforts to remove him, along with the overall crisis, are being orchestrated by the United States.
Maduro’s leadership has been in the international spotlight since his reelection in May 2018, a contest slammed by international observers as a sham. The Lima group, an alliance of 14 Latin American nations and Canada, said that vote did not “adhere to the international standards of a democratic, free, fair and transparent process.”
In January, Guaido declared himself interim President amid massive protests, days after Maduro was sworn in for his second term. The opposition leader has vowed to set up a transitional government and organize free and fair elections.
Dozens of Latin American and Western countries have recognized Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, while Russia, Cuba and China are among the most prominent states supporting Maduro.
Pompeo and Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, both made the rounds on US media Wednesday to voice support for Guaido and accuse Russia of propping up Maduro.
“The Russians like nothing better than putting a thumb in our eye,” Bolton told CNN Wednesday. “They’re using the Cubans as surrogates. They’d love to get effective control of a country in this hemisphere. It’s not ideological, it’s just good old-fashioned power politics.”
Russian officials have denied that narrative and accused the US of disseminating false information to “demoralize the Venezuelan army” and conduct an “information war.”
Maduro also denied that he had been ready to leave the country but had been talked out of it by Russia, an claim that Pompeo made to multiple US media outlets this week.
Pompeo spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by phone Wednesday about Venezuela. The Russian side said it stressed that US interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state was a violation of international law, while the State Department said Russia and Cuba’s intervention in Venezuela was “destabilizing.”
