Venezuela’s self-proclaimed acting President Juan Guaido on Tuesday, 30 April, claimed that troops had joined his campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro, whose government vowed to put down what it called an attempted coup by the US-backed Opposition leader.
An apparently carefully planned attempt by Guaido to demonstrate growing military support disintegrated into rioting as palls of black smoke rose over eastern Caracas.
The government said it was “deactivating” an attempted coup by a small group of “treacherous” soldiers.
There was little early sign that Maduro’s iron grip on the military – which has kept him in power in a months-long standoff with Guaido – had slipped.
On Twitter, he claimed the military chiefs had assured him of their “total loyalty”.
Civilians Take to Streets
Confusion reigned in Caracas as a crowd that swelled to thousands, many waving Venezuelan flags, flocked onto a highway near a Caracas military base.
Guaido had rallied his supporters with an early morning video message that showed him with armed troops he said had heeded months of urging to join his campaign to oust Maduro.
Beginning of the End of Maduro’s Regime: Juan Guaidó
The 35-year-old National Assembly leader – recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries – was filmed outside the La Carlota air base, where he urged the armed forces inside to join him.
Guaido claimed the move was the "beginning of the end" of Maduro's regime, and there was "no turning back".
Police Resorts to Tear Gas to Keep Demonstrators Away
But as the crowd swelled around the base, police fired tear gas to keep them away from the perimeter.
Later troops in riot gear, backed by armored vehicles and water tankers, lined up against the demonstrators on a highway wreathed in tear-gas.
Several of the vehicles ran into the crowd, injuring some of the protesters. Rioters later blocked the highway with a bus and set it on fire.
A pall of black smoke also rose from an area near a helicopter hangar on the base. Soldiers put out the fire and fired tear gas at demonstrators who were trying to dismantle the steel perimeter fence.
"Today is the day Maduro resigns. Today is the day all the country's drug dealers resign. Today we have a Venezuela. Today we have a nation," said one protester amid the confusion.
As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to all sides to avoid violence, Venezuela's army chief and defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino, issued a stark warning of possible "bloodshed" – adding that he would hold the opposition responsible.
US Supports Juan Guaido, Says Stand With Venezuela
The US, meanwhile, threw its full support behind Guaido, with the White House calling on the military to protect the people and support the country's "legitimate institutions," including the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
“I am monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely. The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom,” President Donald Trump tweeted.
"The US Government fully supports the Venezuelan people in their quest for freedom and democracy. Democracy cannot be defeated," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Twitter.
Russia Accuses Guaido of ‘Fuelling Conflict’
Russia, Maduro's main backer and creditor with China, accused Guaido of "fueling conflict" in the oil-rich country.
Maduro's leftist Latin American allies Cuba and Bolivia also condemned Guaido.
President Ivan Duque of neighboring Colombia – home to more than a million refugees from Maduro's regime – called on Twitter for "soldiers and the people of Venezuela to place themselves on the right side of history, rejecting dictatorship and Maduro's usurpation."
Tensions in Venezuela have been ratcheted up to a critical level this year, after Guaido, who is head of the opposition-ruled National Assembly, announced on 23 January that he was the acting president under the constitution. He said Maduro had been fraudulently re-elected last year.
The United States and major Latin American powers including Brazil, Peru and Chile swiftly backed Guaido, followed later by EU nations.
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