Venezuelans rally for and against embattled President Nicolas Maduro after air force general defects
- Venezuelans march in duelling protests, with the two men who claim to be the divided nation’s president
- Both men have made a point of reaching out to the military, the most powerful institution in Venezuela
Buoyed by the defection of a top general, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido predicted the month of February would be “decisive” in determining the future of the nation as he and socialist leader Nicolas Maduro held competing mass rallies in the capital.
National Assembly head Guaido, 35, had called Saturday’s protest to ramp up the pressure on Maduro to step down, ten days after stunning the world by declaring himself “interim president” of the oil-rich but crisis-wracked country.
He received a boost before it began when an air force general became the highest ranking officer to abandon Maduro and recognise Guaido as the country’s true leader.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton responded to that in a tweet calling on “all military members to follow General (Francisco) Yanez’s lead.”
The United States recognised Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president on January 23 while four major European nations - Britain, France, Germany and Spain - have said they would do likewise unless Maduro calls presidential elections by midnight on Sunday.
Speaking at a pro-regime demonstration marking 20 years since his predecessor Hugo Chavez came to power, Maduro ignored those demands and instead reiterated his call to bring forward legislative elections slated for the end of 2020 to this year.
“They (the opposition) want to bring forward elections, let’s have elections,” he said in a reference to the opposition.