Venezuela: Guaidó calls on supporters to intensify ‘peaceful rebellion’ against Maduro

Tens of thousands of protesters hit the streets again on Wednesday and clashed with security forces after fruitless bid to oust Maduro

Clashes have broken out between protesters and Venezuelan security forces as tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets one day after a dramatic but so far fruitless bid to force Nicolás Maduro from power by triggering a massive military rebellion.

Juan Guaidó, the young opposition leader who led that attempted mutiny on Tuesday morning, told demonstrators in the capital, Caracas, they needed to intensify their “peaceful rebellion” against Maduro.

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Guaidó’s uprising seems to have flatlined. What’s next for Venezuela?

Nicolás Maduro retains power and support from country’s military top brass but the opposition challenge is not dead

When Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó appeared outside one of the most important military installations in Caracas on Tuesday flanked by defecting soldiers toting assault rifles, many supporters hoped the game was finally up for Nicolás Maduro and his embattled regime.

“The time is now,” Guaidó announced in his dramatic pre-dawn declaration, calling on Venezuela’s armed forces to turn on their Chavista commander-in-chief.

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Venezuela: Maduro and Guaidó both claim upper hand after day of violence – video

The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, have both taken to the airwaves to claim the advantage after a day of violence and political turmoil. Portraying the events of Tuesday as a US-backed military coup, Maduro insisted his opponent had already been defeated, while Guaidó called for Venezuelans to take to the streets again

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Maduro claims victory over attempted coup in defiant TV address – video

In an hour-long speech, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, said he had defeated what he called a military coup attempt by Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader.

He also scotched claims from the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, that he had been preparing to flee Venezuela for Cuba on Tuesday morning, until he was told to stay put by his Russian backers.

‘Señor Pompeo, please,’ Maduro said.

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Venezuela crisis: Maduro claims victory over ‘deranged’ coup attempt

President blames Trump imperialists and ‘coup-mongering far right’ for plot put down by military

Nicolás Maduro claimed his troops have thwarted a botched attempt to topple him masterminded by Venezuela’s “coup-mongering far right” and Donald Trump’s deranged imperialist “gang”.

In an hour-long address to the nation on Tuesday night – his first since the pre-dawn uprising began – Maduro accused opposition leader Juan Guaidó and his political mentor Leopoldo López of seeking to spark an armed confrontation that might be used as a pretext for a foreign military intervention.

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As it happened – Venezuela crisis: Maduro claims coup has been ‘defeated’

In first appearance since rebellion lead by Juan Guaidó, president calls for applause for ‘obedient’ armed forces. Follow updates

I am wrapping up this blog shortly.

Tom Phillips has filed a new story on the latest goings-on which he leads with Maduro’s claim that a coup attempt by Juan Guaidó has been defeated. You can read that here:

Related: Venezuela crisis: Maduro claims victory over 'deranged' US-backed coup attempt

Away from the immediate politics, it’s worth looking at what is happening with the price of oil – Venezuela’s main export and in many ways the source of much of the trouble engulfing the country.

Crude prices dipped in early trade in Asia on Wednesday thanks to a report showing that US inventories were higher than exppected. Spot Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were at $71.65 per barrel at 01.43 GMT, down 41c, or 0.6%, from their last close.

Related: $100 a barrel? Will Iran sanctions and Venezuela crisis bring oil price spike?

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Venezuela: a day of chaos and violence after Juan Guaidó calls for military uprising – video report

Venezuela’s political crisis lurched into a potentially historic and violent new phase on Tuesday as an attempted military uprising erupted at the heart of its capital, Caracas, and the opposition leader Juan Guaidó urged supporters to take to the streets to force his rival Nicolás Maduro from power.

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Former bus driver Nicolás Maduro clings to wheel in Venezuela

Lack of charisma and luck have hurt the ‘fumbling showman’ who succeeded Hugo Chávez

Nicolás Maduro has ruled Venezuela without two of the greatest assets possessed by his mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chávez. He has not been lucky. And he has no charisma.

Chávez enjoyed an oil bounty and sublime political talents that secured his power at home and reputation abroad.

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National Guard armoured vehicle drives into protesters in Venezuela – video

Hundreds of demonstrators in Caracas have confronted military vehicles on a road outside La Carlota airbase. One of the vehicles fired a water cannon at protesters crowded around it. At one point, the vehicle accelerated over a median barrier and appeared to hit demonstrators

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Unrest in Caracas – in pictures

The Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó took to the streets with activist Leopoldo López and a small contingent of heavily armed soldiers early on Tuesday in a call for the military to rise up and oust the socialist leader, Nicolás Maduro. Events started when Guaidó appeared in an early morning video surrounded by heavily armed soldiers backed by armoured vehicles. Guaidó said soldiers who had taken to the streets were protecting Venezuela’s constitution. Information minister Jorge Rodríguez said on Twitter that Maduro’s government was confronting a small ‘coup attempt’ led by military ‘traitors’ backed by rightwing opponents

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‘Operation Blackout is underway’: Russia blames US for Venezuela power crisis

Deputy defence minister says US using a ‘broad range of techniques’ in bid to oust president Nicolás Maduro

Russia has accused the United States of deliberately causing a succession of crippling power cuts in Venezuela as part of a plot to topple its president, Nicolás Maduro, dubbed “Operation Blackout”.

The crisis-stricken South American country has been rocked by a series of nationwide power outrages since 7 March, which Maduro’s government has blamed on US-backed saboteurs and snipers but most experts attribute to poor maintenance and a bush fire that destroyed a key section of Venezuela’s power grid.

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Red Cross aid to Venezuela to triple as Maduro stance softens

International Committee of the Red Cross to increase budget to $24m after president approves humanitarian assistance

The International Committee of the Red Cross is to triple aid to Venezuela, a day after the crisis-riven country’s leader approved the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The organisation announced the increase in the face of mounting calls for the UN to recognise the scale of the crisis facing Venezuela, and amid continued moves by the Trump administration to persuade other countries to back its calls for the removal of President Nicolás Maduro.

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UN urged to declare full-scale crisis in Venezuela as health system ‘collapses’

Researchers warn of rise in infectious diseases amid spike in levels of malnutrition and infant and maternal mortality

The UN must officially declare a full-scale humanitarian emergency in Venezuela after the “utter collapse” of the health system, experts have said.

Warning of the return of infectious diseases and rising levels of malnutrition and infant and maternal death, a report published this week by Human Rights Watch and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health calls on the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to declare a “complex humanitarian emergency”.

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Neither the status quo nor military intervention will do in Venezuela | Letters

Kate Ferguson on the the crisis in the Latin American country, Michael Derham on its avocados, and Alan Knight on Prince Charles’s trip to Cuba

Julian Borger is right to draw attention to growing anxiety in Latin America as the Trump administration ramps up its rhetoric towards Venezuela, and to acknowledge the problematic trajectory of US-led armed intervention since Bush’s war on terror (Mexico raises concerns over US legal justifications for war, 3 April). Greater transparency in the formal legal justifications for military intervention is not just needed at the UN but here in the UK (which is why the public administration and constitutional affairs committee has rightly opened an inquiry into authorising the use of military force).

But with respect to Venezuela, what should be at the forefront of our minds is the human rights catastrophe facing Venezuelans. Their government has engaged in the systematic use of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence since February 2014, to the extent that they are likely to constitute crimes against humanity.

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Venezuela’s slums are turning on Maduro – but Guaidó faces uphill battle

The support of barrios like Petare may be key to overcoming Maduro. But not all residents are sold on his challenger

Nicolás Maduro’s special forces set up camp on Petare’s doorstep just days after efforts to depose him began, daubing the pitch black exterior of their base with their commander-in-chief’s call to arms: “Always loyal, never traitors.”

Alongside, troops painted two white skulls and a second chilling mantra: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

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Venezuela: Juan Guaidó stripped of parliamentary immunity

Nicolás Maduro’s constituent assembly removes protection, opening the door for arrest of man backed by dozens of countries as interim leader

Venezuela’s opposition figurehead, Juan Guaidó, has vowed to continue fighting Nicolás Maduro’s “cowardly, miserable and murderous” regime after he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity – a move that potentially opens the door to Guaidó’s arrest.

More than 50 countries have recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader since he launched his campaign to force Maduro from office in late January, including the United States, Britain and most Latin American governments.

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Latin Americans fear precedent set by legal justification for Syria intervention

Countries fear that legal standard of states being ‘unwilling or unable’ to deal with terrorism could be used in Latin America

Latin American states are mounting a challenge to the acceptance of a legal standard promoted by the US, UK and their allies to justify military operations in the Middle East, fearing the same standard could eventually be used to justify intervention in their own hemisphere.

The Mexican government is spearheading an effort at the UN to bring greater transparency to the formal legal justifications presented by western powers for military operations in Syria and elsewhere.

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Venezuela: Maduro calls on armed groups to keep order amid electricity rationing

President announces 30-day rationing plan and says pro-government colectivos must ‘defend the peace of every block’

Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro has called on armed pro-government groups to help subdue unrest as he announced a 30-day electricity rationing plan set to inflict further pain on the population.

In a televised address, Maduro said he had no choice but to take drastic measures while his government rebuilt key sections of Venezuela’s national grid following a succession of crippling power failures since 7 March.

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Venezuela: Red Cross brokers Maduro-Guaidó deal to allow aid delivery

  • First shipment for 650,000 could reach Venezuela in two weeks
  • Red Cross says aid must be ‘neutral, impartial and unhindered’

The Red Cross has brokered a deal with representatives of Venezuela’s embattled leader Nicolás Maduro and his rival Juan Guaidó to allow humanitarian aid into the country, indicating a seldom-seen middle ground between the two men that contest the presidency.

The first shipment of aid for about 650,000 vulnerable people could reach Venezuela in two weeks, Francesco Rocca, the president of the International Federation of the Red Cross told a press conference on Friday.

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Venezuela: Maduro blames blackout on sniper and tells people to pray

Venezuelan leader claimed in a broadcast the latest outage was caused by mercenaries ‘sent by the coup-mongering right’

Nicolás Maduro has asked Venezuelans to pray for the country’s recovery from another crippling nationwide blackout, in a crackly and foreboding telephone interview that reinforced the mounting sense of crisis.

Related: Venezuela blackout: what caused it and what happens next?

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