Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido on Tuesday returned to his country after an international support-building tour and called on the people in the crisis-wracked nation to keep pushing back against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Venezuelan opposition leader — who had defied a travel ban to visit Colombia, the US, Canada and several European nations — was greeted by a throng of cheering supporters at Simon Bolivar International Airport in La Guaira, Venezuela.
“We’re in Caracas now. I bring back with me the commitment of the free world, ready to help us regain democracy and freedom,” Guaido wrote on Twitter, before tweeting a picture of himself at passport control that was captioned “HOME.”
Photo : AFP
Shortly before Guaido’s arrival, fighting broke out between his followers — including several lawmakers — and Maduro’s supporters.
“Guaido, fascist,” shouted employees of the state-run airline Conviasa, which was subjected to US sanctions last week, who had entered the area where the 36-year-old’s backers were waiting for him. Several diplomats were present.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show Guaido sprayed with soda by an airline worker. The opposition leader seemed to laugh it off. Security escorts flanked Guaido — wearing a white shirt and a wooden cross around his neck — as he got into a white vehicle to head to Caracas.
After his trip abroad — including a meeting with US President Donald Trump, who threatened to “smash” Maduro’s regime — Guaido promised new sanctions “against the dictatorship” would be coming soon and called for renewed protests.
“We came to work and leave the rest, to do what is necessary to accomplish the goal” of pushing Maduro from office, Guaido told a rally attended by about 500 people.
His office late on Tuesday said that a relative traveling with Guaido had vanished after being held by airport officials.
In a veiled reference to Guaido’s return, Maduro called on his supporters to focus on “defending Venezuela.”
“Let’s not get distracted by stupidities, by dummies, by traitors to the homeland,” he said at a ceremony broadcast on state television.
Guaido rose to prominence in January last year, when he declared himself the country’s acting president in a direct challenge to Maduro.
He derived such authority from his position as the speaker of the National Assembly, after the legislature declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election invalid following a poll widely denounced as rigged.
Lawmakers called Maduro a “usurper,” while more than 50 countries recognized Guaido as interim president.
However, Maduro retains the support of Venezuela’s powerful military and has resisted Guaido’s challenge.
The international trip was the second time Guaido, who called for a legislative session to be held yesterday, had flouted the travel ban.
Maduro’s No. 2, Diosdado Cabello, on Monday said that he did not expect much of anything to change after Guaido’s travels, which he called a “tourism trip.”
“He is nothing,” Cabello said.
However, Guaido on Tuesday tweeted: “A new moment has begun that won’t accept setbacks and in which we need everyone to do what they have to do. The time has arrived.”
“Now more than ever, we need unity, confidence and political discipline. Look out for new announcements,” he said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was