Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Rapidly Escalating Violence In Venezuela: Heavy Gunfire In Caracas


Heavy gunfire in Caracas after Venezuela's Juan Guaido called for uprising against Maduro




Video footage has emerged showing President Nicolas Maduro's troops running over anti-government protesters during clashes with the Venezuelan National Guard.
Armoured vehicles operated by soldiers loyal to the besieged president were seen ploughing into demonstrators in front of La Carlota base in Caracas.
Heavy gunfire crackled through the Venezuelan capital on Tuesday after opposition leader Juan Guaido called for a military uprising to oust President Maduro.

In the clip posted online a group of protesters could be seen throwing missiles at a white armoured vehicle. As they launch the assault as second tank emerged from the left and mounted the central reservation of the highway, mowing down a number of people.

One person could be seen falling under the wheels as both vehicles drove off, leaving crowds to swarm around the injured person. 
Guaido urged protesters and members of the military to join what he called the 'final phase of Operation Liberty' in a video taken at La Carlota airbase in the capital Caracas while surrounded by heavily-armed soldiers.
The troops then set up defensive positions around the base before Maduro's forces arrived and opened fire with teargas followed by live rounds, according to witnesses.
Guaido claimed that Maduro had lost the support of the military, but the President said he had spoken with his officers who had assured him of their 'total loyalty'. 


Anti-government demonstrators clashed with troops loyal to Maduro at the air base in the capital hours after opposition leader Guaido took to the streets in a bold and risky attempt to lead a military uprising against the embattled socialist.
The early-morning rebellion seems to have only limited military support, but it was by far the most-serious challenge yet to Maduro's rule since Guaido, with the backing of the U.S. and dozens of other countries, declared himself the country's interim president in January in rejection of a government he accused of stealing last year's presidential election.

The dramatic events began early Tuesday when Guaido, flanked by a few dozen national guardsmen and some armored crowd control vehicles, released a three-minute video filmed near a Caracas air base in which he called on civilians and others in the armed forces to join a final push to topple Maduro.


In a surprise, standing alongside him was Leopoldo Lopez, his political mentor and the nation's most-prominent opposition activist, who has largely been silent and unseen since he was detained in 2014 for leading a previous round of anti-government unrest. Lopez said he had been released from house arrest by security forces adhering to an order from Guaido.


'I want to tell the Venezuelan people: This is the moment to take to the streets and accompany these patriotic soldiers,' Lopez declared.
As the two allies coordinated actions from vehicles parked on a highway overpass, troops loyal to Maduro sporadically fired tear gas from inside the adjacent Carlota air base.

Guaido said the troops who had taken to the streets were protecting Venezuela's constitution and that in the coming hours he would release a list of top commanders supporting the uprising. Anti-government demonstrators gathered in several other cities, although there were no reports that supporters of Guaido had taken control of any military installations.
'The armed forces have taken the right decision,' said Guaido. 'With the support of the Venezuelan people and the backing of our constitution they are on the right side of history.'

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