Venezuela's 'interim president' urges military to defect amid promise of possible amnesty for Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela’s self-proclaimed “interim president” has appealed to the country’s military to abandon President Nicolas Maduro and join his side, asking citizens to “extend a hand of friendship” to soldiers to convince them to defect.
Juan Guaido, the 35-year-old head of the opposition-controlled national assembly, called for massive protests next week at an open-air press conference in Caracas, interrupted by frequent cheers of “presidente”.
Hours before, in an interview aired by Latino broadcaster Univision, he suggested to Mr Maduro that he would guarantee safe passage out of the country.
“This amnesty, these guarantees are on the table for everyone who is prepared to put themselves on the side of the constitution in order to recover the democratic order,” he said.
Some American diplomats on Friday evacuated Caracas under police escort, obeying an order from Mr Maduro to leave despite Mr Guido urging them not to.
It was also reported that Russian military contractors had flown into Venezuela to beef up security for Mr Maduro.
Mr Guaido called on members of the military – who on Thursday pledged their loyalty to Mr Maduro – saying "it is the moment" for them to come out in defence of the constitution. He told Cuban advisers, embedded with the Venezuelan forces, that they should leave the military, although they were welcome to remain in the country.
Mr Guaido was recognised by the United States as the country’s legitimate leader on Wednesday – a move which was swiftly followed by a series of countries in the Americas, including Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said Britain believed Mr Guaido was “the right person to take Venezuela forward”.
It was reported on Friday that Mr Maduro's government had been stymied in an attempt to withdraw $1.2 billion in gold it holds in the Bank of England.
The bank denied Venezuela's withdrawal request after US officials asked their UK counterparts to help block the regime's access to overseas assets, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The US on Thursday said it wanted to divert such funds to Mr Guaido.
The Washington-led move has put the US on collision course with both Venezuela and Russia, which has stationed its planes in Venezuela. Mr Maduro has frequently visited Moscow to seek support from Mr Putin, and Moscow now accuses the US of trying to usurp power in Venezuela.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, is to speak at a UN Security Council meeting on Venezuela on Saturday, in an attempt to drum up support for Mr Guaido. Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said Moscow would insist on “compliance with international law”.
Reuters reported that Kremlin-linked military contractors who have conducted secret missions for Russia in Ukraine and Syria had flown into Venezuela in recent days, citing multiple sources close to them. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said he had "no such information".
Mr Maduro also retains some allies in Latin America. Mexico, which under leftist leader Andres Manual Lopez Obrador, who took office a month ago, has charted a more conciliatory course with Venezuela, said they would not be changing their position towards President Nicolas Maduro. They offered on Friday to mediate between the opposition and Mr Maduro’s government.
At least seven people have died in a week of unrest and protests, with some NGOs giving the toll as high as 26.
Mr Guaido’s assumption of power on Wednesday was greeted with jubilation at home by opponents of the embattled Mr Maduro.
On Friday hundreds gathered for Mr Guaido’s press conference, excited to see what would happen.
The youthful politician, who was briefly detained earlier this month by security services, said he hoped to hold free and fair elections to designate the official president.
Gustavo Misle, a retired university professor, was holding a sign that had a skeleton attached to the back of it. The cardboard said “we are hungry” and had legal currency stapled to it and gun casings.
Inflation in Venezuela is currently at a million per cent, and the years of chronic shortages of food and essential items show no signs of abating.
"People like me are hungry,” he told The Telegraph. “We either buy food or medicines, and our retirement isn’t worth anything.
"I support Guaido because it’s the first time I’ve seen that we can have changes and complete changes."
