Crisis in Venezuela: a senior military man turns his back on Nicolás Maduro and recognizes Juan Guaidó as president – 02/02/2019

An active aviation general announced Saturday that he did not know Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela and called on the armed forces to support Juan Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly who proclaimed himself president in charge.

A few hours before the start of the demonstrations called by the opposition to step up the pressure against Maduro, an officer who has introduced himself as the general Francisco Esteban Yáñez Rodríguez He made the announcement through a video uploaded to YouTube.

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Director of Strategic Planning of the High Military Command, the army confirmed by telephone, from a Colombian number, the veracity of his statement. And he said that he would not make any other statements until he allowed "the commander-in-chief of the legal armed force that is president Juan Guaidó".

In his message, Yáñez Rodríguez asked his companions "not to turn their backs on the Venezuelan people".

"Do not repress more!", he said.

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Dress up in an olive costume, she says the military are "victims of infinite threats"and told his fellow weapons that they feared to demonstrate, it was "better to stay at home".

"The time of democracy has arrived", he added.

On Twitter, several reports attributed to military chavists are out to publish the photo of General Yáñez Rodríguez crossed with the caption "TRAIDOR".

The opposition has called for Saturday's protests that coincide with a counter-march by the Bolivarian government to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the late President Hugo Chávez's arrival.

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"We are facing the greatest political, diplomatic and economic aggression of the Republic since 200 years in Venezuela"Maduro said Friday because of increasing internal and external pressures.

Negotiator that he would give in to these pressures, said the president during an act with the military who he will remain firm and took the opportunity to launch another appeal to the Armed Forces, considered the main support of his government, to maintain cohesion and loyalty.

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Since the beginning of January, the National Assembly, with a majority majority, has stepped up its actions to obtain the resignation of Maduro, whom they claim to have "usurped" the post since January 10, the date on which he started his second term.

Opposition does not recognize re-election and alleges elections were a process "prank call" because they did not respect the legal parameters and transparency.

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Most of the neighboring countries of Venezuela, the United States and the European Union do not recognize Maduro either and have supported Guaidó.

sources: AP, AFP, Reuters, EFE.