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Trump warns of worse to come in Venezuela, as Guaido admits he needs more military support

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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognised as the country's rightful interim ruler, speaks during a swearing-in ceremony for supporters in Caracas, Venezuela April 27, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognised as the country’s rightful interim ruler, speaks during a swearing-in ceremony for supporters in Caracas, Venezuela April 27, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

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.
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 blamed US 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.”
CNN
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