Caracas: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday called on the armed forces to oppose “any coup plotter” after a failed military uprising by forces supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido.
“Yes, we are in combat, keep morale high in this fight to disarm any traitor, any coup plotter,” Maduro said at a televised event with the military high command in which he appeared surrounded by soldiers.
“No one can be afraid, it is the hour to defend our right to peace,” he said at a ceremony in which, according to the government, 4,500 military personnel were present.
Maduro’s call comes after an uprising Tuesday by a group of military personnel under the leadership of Guaido, recognised by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s interim president. The rebel soldiers gathered at a Caracas highway with Guaido, who urged Venezuela’s armed forces to rise against Maduro.
But the military leadership ratified their support for the Maduro government, and 25 rebel soldiers sought asylum at the Brazilian Embassy. Opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, freed from house arrest, took refuge at the home of the Spanish ambassador.
Tensions in Venezuela have soared since Guaido, who heads the National Assembly legislature, invoked the constitution to declare himself acting president on January 23, claiming Maduro’s re-election last year was illegitimate.
May Day clashes between opposition supporters and armed forces in Caracas left a woman dead and 46 people injured on Wednesday.
Jurubith Rausseo, 27, died at a clinic after being hit by a “bullet in the head during (a) demonstration,” the non-governmental Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said on Twitter, condemning her “murder.”
Human rights organisations and health services reported 46 people injured in Wednesday’s clashes, including one person with a gunshot wound.
National Guard troops fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters attempting to block a highway close to the air base in eastern Caracas where Guaido had tried on Tuesday to spark a military uprising. A second day of confrontations between opposition supporters and Maduro’s security services came as the United States said it was prepared to take military action, if necessary, to stem the crisis in the South American nation.
At least one journalist was injured when National Guard soldiers fired rubber bullets at a group of reporters covering the clashes. — AFP
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