Venezuela crisis: soldiers and protesters clash amid violence in Caracas after opposition urges military uprising

Jacob Jarvis30 April 2019

Violence blighted Venezuela’s capital city after the nation’s opposition leader urged a military uprising against its president.

Armoured vehicles were filmed being rammed into anti-government protesters as troops loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tried to restore order on Tuesday.

At least 36 people were injured in clashes having been hit with projectiles including rubber bullets in Caracas.

It was also claimed Colonel Yerzon Jimenez, the operations head of a national guard unit, was shot in the neck by demonstrators.

Shots were fired as protesters were left bloodied amid the carnage and fires sparked by Molotov cocktails were seen in the streets.

The two opposition leaders coordinated actions from vehicles parked on a highway overpass, as thousands gathered and had tear gas doused over them.

Demonstrators gather near La Carlota air force on Tuesday
Getty Images

The furore began early Tuesday when Juan Guaido released a three-minute video, filmed near a Caracas air base, in which he urged civilians and others in the armed forces to join a final push to topple President Maduro.

Leopoldo Lopez, his political mentor and the nation's most-prominent opposition activist, was surprisingly seen stood alongside him after being released from house arrest.

Smoke filled the streets (REUTERS)
Reuters

He had been detained in 2014 for leading a previous round of anti-government unrest.

Mr Lopez said: "I want to tell the Venezuelan people: This is the moment to take to the streets and accompany these patriotic soldiers.”

The chaos marked the most serious challenge to President Maduro's rule yet after months of mostly peaceful protests led by Mr Guaido.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (REUTERS)
Reuters

The opposition leader previously declared himself interim president with the backing of the US and dozens of other countries.

Mr Guaido said he called for the uprising to restore Venezuela's constitutional order, stating this was broken when Maduro was sworn in earlier this year for a second term after a bout of voting many considered illegitimate.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has denied there is a military coup attempt underway to oust President Maduro and accused the opposition of operating under orders from Washington.

There were clashes in the streets between those loyal and those opposed to President Maduro
AP

"It is not a coup attempt from the military. This is directly planned in Washington, in the Pentagon and Department of State, and by Bolton," Mr Arreaza said.

"They are leading this coup and giving orders to this man (Juan) Guaido.”

Juan Guaido urged the uprising against President Maduro
REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

He estimated around 30 or fewer members of the military had sided with Mr Guaido, adding: "This is 30 out of about 200,000, so it is almost nothing," he added.

Several US figureheads, including President Trump, expressed support for the opposition in Venezuela.

US national security adviser John Bolton singled out three senior aides to President Maduro who he said must make good on commitments they purportedly made to the opposition for a peaceful transition away from his rule.

He claimed the senior figures “all agreed that Maduro had to go” and shared his hopes the uprising bid would be "enough to tip" President Maduro out of power.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in