Uncertainty in Venezuela after a hectic day of demonstrations and repression

Venezuela woke up Monday with an image that traveled the world in minutes. An image unthinkable in the last hours. At around six o'clock in the morning, local time, the acting president, Juan Guaidó, went to the country accompanied by none other than Leopoldo López, the leader of the opposition who was under house arrest and serving a sentence of almost 14 years.

In addition to the surprise caused by the presence of the leader of Voluntad Popular (VP), who was under house arrest imposed by the regime of Nicolás Maduro, it was also uncertain that Guaidó was surrounded by a group of soldiers of the Bolivarian National Guard ( GNB), the security organ that still holds Maduro in power. This is how it started the final phase of "Operation Libertad", from La Carlota Air Base to Caracas.

"He began the end of the usurpation"Guaidó announced, and then called on the population to mobilize throughout the country. Lopez, meanwhile, explained that he had been released by a group of military rebels and he joined the acting president's call to go down the streets all over Venezuelan territory.

Almost immediately, hundreds of people – thousands later – began to approach the neighborhood of La Carlota to accompany Guaidó and López.

The first incidents were recorded shortly after when a group of Chavez collectives tried to repress the protesters. However, paramilitaries loyal to the dictator have been repulsed by the GNB agents who, wearing a blue ribbon on the right armThey expressed their support for Guaidó and the Venezuelan people.

But as expected, clashes moved to different parts of the country. Since Chavismo, in the meantime, in the middle of the morning, they had barely Diosdado Cabello (President of the Constituent Assembly), Jorge Rodríguez (Minister of Communication) and Vladimir Padrino López (Defense Minister). The number two of Chavismo downplayed the importance of the military uprising and called on the collectives and supporters of the regime to meet in front of the Miraflores Palace to defend the Revolution.

Surrounded by the high command, Padrino López, for his part, reiterated his attachment to Maduro and denounced the uprising as a "crude and useless" attempt. At this point, it was clear that the decision maker was Cabello himself. Maduro's speech arrived around noon. This time, it was not through the national chain, nor in the street with Bolivarian militancy. The dictator barely sent a message on Twitter indicating that commanders from all regions had expressed "their total loyalty to the people, the Constitution and the country".

After the launch of "Operation Freedom", the regime's first reaction was to launch tear gas on the Altamira dispenser, where part of the army and supporters of Guaidó were concentrated in the first hour. As time pbaded, the population returned to the streets and clashes spread across the Venezuelan capital and into different parts of the country. Once again, the dictatorship applied an iron fist to the civilian population. The most striking picture of the day is an armored vehicle overthrowing unarmed people around La Carlota. The health services said that up to now 69 people had been injured (two by bullet), and the Venezuelan Criminal Forum reported that at least 11 people had been arrested.

With the eyes of the world in Venezuela, Guaidó said that the mission to bring down the dictator had no return: "We have never been so close to being able to defeat an authoritarian regime". But over the hours, the situation calmed down and what was excitement and hope became an uncertainty.

For its part, many have taken as obvious weakening the fact that Maduro did not go out to speak in publicwhile others spoke of a negotiation within the army. All this, up to now, was nothing. The only thing that came to light on Tuesday was what John Bolton revealed from the White House. In front of the press, he badured that Three senior regime officials had negotiated Maduro's exit with Guaidó.

Donald Trump's security advisor said that Vladimir Padrino López (Defense Minister), Maikel Moreno (President of the Supreme Court of Justice) e Iván Hernández Dala (Director, Military Counterintelligence Branch) They had promised to collaborate to bring down the dictatorship, but they did not comply. And he sent them a direct message: "Time is running out, it's your last chance, accept the amnesty of interim President Guaidó, protect the Constitution and eliminate Maduro from power, and we will remove them from our sanctioned list. " Mike Pompeo, Marco Rubio, Elliott Abrams and Trump himself were the other US officials who celebrated the start of the final phase of Operation Freedom.

The Secretary of State even declared to the chain CNN Maduro was ready to escape to Cuba until he was deterred by Russia: "He had a plane on the runway, he was ready to leave this morning, as far as we know, and the Russians told him that he should stay". Version that feeds more questions about the situation of the Caribbean country.

Although Guaidó did not manage to reach the palace of Miraflores with his faithful, most of the countries of the region, with Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Peru toppingThey emphasized their initiative and reiterated their commitment to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela. The main allies of the regime -Cuba, Russia, Bolivia and Turkey, among others-, supported the dictator and denounced an "attempted coup d'etat".

Waiting for the May 1st march

Why the launch of the final phase of "Operation Liberty" when the city was called to mobilize tomorrow, May 1? This is one of the first questions raised after La Carlota's announcement of Guaidó.

Some versions felt that the information leaked on Monday about the secret construction of a cell for Guaidó in Fort Tiuna could have been a trigger. But it was only a transcendent, a point of questioning in this unprecedented crisis.

After this intense day, waiting is growing in the face of tomorrow's mobilization.

Despite internal and external pressures, the regime, which is supported only by the military, continues to apply the same recipe: violence and repression. Its other pillar, Cuba, which has infiltrated thousands of army intelligence agents, received Tuesday a serious warning from the United States. Trump threatened Havana with a "total" embargo and sanctions if he did not stop supporting the Venezuelan dictator.

"If Cuban troops and militias do not cease immediately military and other operations in order to cause the death and destruction of the Venezuelan Constitution, a total and total embargo will be imposed with high-level sanctions"warned the US president.

The protesters, with the momentum and hope renewed after this day, They warned that they would continue to demonstrate throughout the country. However, despite the wide international support of the Venezuelan population, Guaidó knows that he needs increased support from the military to achieve the fall of the dictatorship and pursue the plan developed by the ## 147 ## Opposition: transition and free elections.