Operation Freedom | Strange truce in Caracas after a second day of violent clashes

A day after the failure of an attempt to unleash a military uprising, the Venezuelan opposition resumed the match on Wednesday with another desperate effort to rally the residents and overthrow President Nicolás Maduro . The socialist, besieged but not mastered, promised a punishment for those who planned what he called an attempted coup d'etat.

Wednesday's violent protests in Caracas left traces 27 wounded, 13 wounded by lead shotsOne of them was injured by a gun and seven others were injured, said Mayor of the Chacao Municipality, Gustavo Duque. The Venezuelan human rights group Provea reported on Tuesday that a 24-year-old man had died at a demonstration in La Victoria.

But there were no arrests of significant enemies: Juan Guaidó and others who denounced Maduro and his government were free to regroup. The country has regained its strange status with the Maduro-backed armed forces, re-elected rigged last year, and the Trump government with Guaidó, the legislator recognized by more than 50 countries as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. .

In a country with hundreds of political prisoners, Guaidó's freedom may seem surprising. AT Maduro, stuck by US sanctions and despised by many in the country overwhelmed by the crisisit makes sense to give Guaidó some leeway. The longer Guaidó and his allies work long and fail to turn their frustration into total rebellion, the more likely the regime is to stay in power. The bet is that the relevance of the battered opposition will fade.

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"I think Maduro understands that, from a strategic point of view, it is in his interest that Guaidó remain alone and be dismantled by members of his own opposition coalition," he said. . Geoff Ramsey, Analyst at Washington office on Latin America, an organization for the defense of human rights.

Some of those who participated in Wednesday's protests – which, again, failed to beat the army and attracted far fewer people than would have expected. opposition – had other theories. "Maduro knows that if he does something to Guaidó, the United States will do something worse"Ida Romero said patting a pan in protest. Vixa Ramírez, accountant, agreed: "They are afraid to catch him," he said.

In Washington, the National Security Advisor John BoltonHe said that he was "very confident" that Maduro would not stay long in power. President Donald Trump heavily bet on Guaidó and on Tuesday, US officials tried to undermine Maduro, even as the military Guaidó insurgency failed. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in an interview with CNN that the Venezuelan president was preparing to flee until his allies in the Russian government persuaded him to stay. The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said Wednesday that Pompeo's request was not true.

The confusion was a prelude to the marches that were already scheduled for Wednesday, and Maduro called his own faithful to attend. Attacked in the US on Twitter, praising Venezuelans who celebrated May 1st "with a big meeting that will say NO to the coup d'état and the Yankees' interference" and denouncing "the empire and its lackeys ". Guaidó had asked his supporters to demonstrate at 14 different locations in Caracas. But the crowd faded compared to mega rallies earlier this year. Hundreds of National Guards blocked the main roads and arteries.

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In the labor district of El Paraíso, security forces fired tear gas against some 150 protesters. They scattered behind the trees and coughed through clouds of burnt gas, but came back when the soldiers left, hitting pots and whistles. Government security forces were more aggressive than the day before.

The crowd was larger in the eastern part of Caracas, the traditional scenario of anti-government riots. Thousands of people took a number of streets demonstrating protesters and soldiers a few hours earlier. Small groups of masked protesters returned to the city's main road to throw stones at La Carlota, site of some of the fiercest skirmishes on Tuesday.

Guaidó is addressed to several hundred supporters outside a shopping center of the El Marques section. He added that the most important actions of the opposition were still ahead and called on public service employees to strike on Thursday. "The regime believes that we have reached our maximum pressure.They are wrong," said Guaidó. "Every day from now on, we will have demonstrations until we reach freedom."

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For years, resisting Maduro was a big risk. In fact, one of the reasons why Guaidó became the leader of the opposition-dominated National Assembly in January was that many other politicians had been exiled or arrested. Leopoldo López, his mentor and senior advisor in this year's campaign against Maduro, was sentenced to nearly 14 years in military prison after leading major street riots in 2014. After being transferred to house arrest in March, 2017, intelligence patrolled him regularly.

What Guaidó called the "final phase" of efforts to end the Maduro government began Tuesday morning, when the legislator appeared on a highway near the military air base of La Carlota in Caracas and declared that the Maduro era was over. He was flanked by a dozen masked soldiers who had broken ranks with regime and opposition politicians.

While many politicians criticized Maduro during these rallies, it was considered a blatant step to openly support the insurgency. The septuagenarian Henry Ramos Allup, former president of the National Assembly, drowned under the tear gas when forces loyal to Maduro dispersed the crowd. At a rally in favor of Maduro, Oscar Flores, a public sector employee, said he understood why the government had not bothered to arrest Guaidó: that's because He is a loser.

"The coup d'etat was a failure," said Flores. "The opposition is calling people on the street because they want problems, we want peace."