Juan Guaidó said more than 600 Venezuelan soldiers had abandoned Nicolás Maduro's regime in recent days

The leader of the Venezuelan opposition Juan Guaidó said on Friday that more than 600 armed forces officers had withdrawn their support to the government of Nicolás Maduro In recent days, and while most military members support change, many continue to follow orders for fear of persecution.

Guaidó was in the Paraguayan capital to meet the president Mario Abdo, who received him with the honors of head of state and with a solid security device, one day after meeting the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.

"We have clearly spoken to the Armed Forces of Venezuela (…) There is a very clear process of transition to democracy," Guaidó said in a statement delivered to the Paraguayan government's headquarters in front of parliamentarians, ambbadadors and ambbadadors. Other authorities.

Guaidó, who went to Argentina on Friday to meet the president Mauricio Macri As part of a tour of South America that began in Colombia, he said that 80% of Armed forces they support change and the process continues to seek more support among the military.

"We have offered an amnesty, guarantees, a role in reconstruction, but we are in this process. You must continue to push, you must continue to search for methods of conversation and communication."said the Venezuelan leader at a press conference in Buenos Aires.

"There has been persecution, torture" against many soldiers, Guaidó said. "This persecution makes a more complicated element"

The opposition leader, whom dozens of countries recognize as Venezuela's president, has crossed into neighboring countries after the frustrated attempt to provide humanitarian aid to the OPEC country last weekend along the borders with the country. Brazil and Colombia.

Saturday, he should go to Ecuador.

To put pressure on the Maduro government, the United States canceled visas for 49 people aligned with the president on Friday.

This is in addition to the sanctions announced by the US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, against Maduro's security forces.

Guaidó repeated that he would return to Venezuela and explained that in the next few hours, he would announce new demonstrations against Maduro.

Before leaving Argentina, Guaidó and his wife greeted the people of Venezuela in Plaza San Martín, with whom they sang the anthem of their country.

"The government will do Caracas (…) I want to return with our people," he said in an interview with the Paraguayan television, which had raised fears for his safety or possible imprisonment.

Dozens of countries claim that Maduro took his second term illegitimately, because they believe that the elections that enshrined him did not respect democratic guarantees and that the main leaders of the opposition could not appear. .

With Reuters information