Venezuelan military officers on Tuesday blocked a bridge on the border with Colombia ahead of an anticipated humanitarian aid shipment, as National Assembly President and opposition leader Juan Guaido stepped up his challenge to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s authority.
The opposition-led National Assembly had earlier warned the armed forces, which make up much of Maduro’s power base, not to cross a “red line” by blocking aid.
Guaido, who proclaimed himself acting president on Jan. 23 claims that up to 300,000 people face death if the aid is not delivered.
Photo: AFP / Colombian Migration Office
“You know there’s a red line, you know well there’s a limit, you know that medicines, food and medical supplies are that limit,” lawmaker Miguel Pizarro said in a message to the military.
Maduro, however, said that humanitarian aid would be the forerunner of a US-led invasion, insisting that “no one will enter, not one invading soldier.”
Venezuelan military officers used a tanker truck and a huge shipping container to block access to the Tienditas bridge, which links Cucuta, Colombia, to Urena, Venezuela.
Franklyn Duarte, an opposition lawmaker from the border state of Tachira, told reporters that troops from the armed forces were blocking the crossing.
The aid delivery was being coordinated by Guaido, who has declared himself interim president of the oil-rich country and now enjoys the backing of about 40 countries as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
Maduro, 56, has repeatedly accused the US of fomenting a coup.
The US, which has not ruled out a military intervention in crisis-wracked Venezuela, was the first to recognize him as acting president, followed by a dozen Latin American countries.
Britain, France, Germany and Spain were among 20 EU nations to side with Guaido this week after Maduro ignored their demands that he announce new presidential elections by Feb. 3.
Guaido is trying to force Maduro from power, set up a transitional government and hold a new presidential poll.
He thanked his EU supporters “for supporting all Venezuelans in this struggle we undertake to rescue our nation’s democracy, freedom and justice.”
However, key Maduro ally Russia slammed what it called interference in the oil-rich, but now poor Latin American country, saying it was an attempt to “legitimize usurped power.”
Guaido must still find a way to bring in the humanitarian aid given the military’s loyalty to Maduro.
He accused the military on Monday of planning to divert aid being stockpiled in Colombia, Brazil and an unidentified Caribbean island, in order to distribute it through the socialist government’s subsidized food program for its own supporters.
Eurasia Group analysts say the humanitarian crisis “represents a lose-lose gambit for Maduro,” who will either have to allow the goods to enter the country, further bolstering Guaido, or force the military to block their entry, risking a backlash in the streets.
However, Maduro remains steadfast, saying: “Venezuela doesn’t have to beg to anyone. If they want to help, then end the blockade and the sanctions.”
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