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.
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