Venezuela launches criminal probe into self-declared president Juan Guaido. Will he be arrested?
- Venezuela authorities bar self-declared president Juan Guaido from leaving the country and freeze his bank accounts
- Move came after the United States escalated its efforts to unseat President Nicolas Maduro
The Trump administration has threatened “serious consequences” against the government of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro for opening a criminal investigation into the country’s US-backed opposition leader, a possible precursor to arrest.
And Maduro, defiantly resisting attempts to oust him, brandished his most potent weapon: the military.
In a bellicose speech Tuesday, he announced the creation of “popular defence units,” armed civilian squads comprising 50,000 fighters instructed to expand the army’s reach by putting down anti-government resistance in neighbourhoods across Venezuela.
The criminal investigation and the formation of the defence brigades reflected Maduro’s decision to dig in and rebuff the mounting domestic and international pressure aimed at toppling him amid abject poverty and famine.
The stand-off is precarious and fraught with risk for Maduro and the US-backed opposition.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab asked the country’s top court to ban self-declared acting president Juan Guaido from travelling outside the country and to freeze his bank accounts. Guaido, a little known 35-year-old politician, is attempting to unseat Maduro and has received wide international support in his quest.
The Supreme Court is stacked with Maduro supporters, so it will probably rubber-stamp Saab’s request.