Supporters gather to protest…

Guaido returns to Venezuela, calls for more street protests

The Maduro government has previously jailed and driven into exile some of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leaders, including Leopoldo Lopez, who lives under house arrest and the other lawmaker holed up in the house of Chile’s ambassador from the Venezuelan capital.

“it is a very long process,” he explained.

While thousands of Venezuelans heeded Guaido’s call for protests coinciding with his return, many wonder whether he could maintain momentum against a government that, while under intense pressure , has relentlessly cracked down on opponents in years past jailing or driving into exile top opposition leaders.

Guaido seen Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Ecuador over the past week — most nations that support his own claim to be Venezuela’s interim president and calls on Maduro to resign so that the nation can prepare for free and fair elections.
At the demonstration, Guaido known for massive protests on Saturday and said he’d meet Tuesday with public employee unions controlled by the government of Maduro, who keeps the support of military generals despite the desertion of hundreds of lower-ranking army personnel.
“We know the dangers that we face. That has never stopped us,” Guaido said after arriving at Venezuela’s primary airport and going through immigration checks. He was greeted with top diplomats from the United States, Germany, Spain and other nations who possibly hoped to head off any move on to detain Guaido by bearing witness to his return.

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America and some 50 other countries have recognized Guaido because the legitimate leader of Venezuela, asserting that Maduro’s re-election this past year was because popular opposition candidates had been barred from running.


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The 35-year-old chief of Venezuela’s National Assembly showed off his passport before climbing on scaffolding and pumping his fist during the demonstration from Caracas, delighting A-list followers whose attempts to oust Maduro have fallen short at a nation gripped with a humanitarian crisis.

However then she left open the possibility, saying Guaido had violated the law and has been”a healer that conspires with overseas authorities to overthrow a constitutional government.”

“The program must know , the dictatorship must understand… that we’re stronger than ever. We’ll continue protesting, we will keep on mobilizing,” said Guaido, that had ignored a formal ban on overseas travel to depart Venezuela last month.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton tweeted that threats or action by Maduro’s authorities against Guaido”would be met with a robust and significant reaction in the USA and the worldwide community.”

Associated Press writer Scott Smith at Caracas contributed to this report.

Maduro has said he’s the aim of a U.S.-backed coup plot after the Trump administration combined dozens of different nations in backing Guaido. The USA has also enforced petroleum sanctions on Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves.

For his part, Maduro has somewhat incongruously encouraged Venezuelans to relish the carnival season, although many individuals do not have the funds to travel to beaches or alternative holiday areas. On Sunday, he said Venezuelans nationally were loving carnival”in peace and pleasure.”

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“We expect there will not be some escalation and parliamentary immunity is admired,” said Spanish Ambassador Jesus Silva Fernandez.