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CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed on Saturday the holding of early general elections, seeking to consolidate his dilapidated regime after the departure of a high-ranking general and tens of thousands of people who have invaded the streets to protest against his government.
While national and international pressure on Maduro for that he resigns is gaining momentum, an Air Force general disavows him in a video that circulated Saturday, expressing his allegiance to the chief of the Parliament and the self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido.
Army support is crucial for Maduro, deeply unpopular, mainly due to an unprecedented economic crisis that has caused an exodus of millions of people. Maduro states that he is the victim of a coup led by the United States.
In a speech to the supporters, Maduro said the powerful, government-controlled constituent badembly would discuss the convening of elections this year for the opposition-controlled parliament of the National Assembly.
Guaido called for a new presidential election just after the disputed vote won by Maduro last year.
"You want elections? You want early elections? We are going to have parliamentary elections," Maduro said at a pro-government rally in Caracas, organized to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first president of socialist president Hugo Chavez.
Opposition MP Armando Armas said in a statement that the proposal to advance legislative elections, scheduled for 2020, was only an additional provocative act.
"Maduro is not president and the Constituent Assembly has no legitimacy, no value," he said.
While small rebellions against Maduro have broken out in Venezuela's armed forces in recent months, no large-scale military uprisings have taken place against him.
However, General Francisco Yanez of the Air Force High Command has become the first active Venezuelan general to recognize Guaido since he proclaimed himself president on 23 January. The senior military attaché of Venezuela to the United States also announced his defection last week.
"The people of Venezuela, 90% of Venezuela's armed forces are not with the dictator, they are with the people of Venezuela," said Yanez in the video. "The transition to democracy is already imminent."
On his Twitter account, the Air Force High Command accused the general of treason.
At an opposition rally in Caracas, Guaido told his supporters that he was expecting more people to follow the example of Yanez. The 35-year-old industrial engineer, who was previously unknown, offered amnesty to military and government officials if they failed.
"I am sure that many officials and soldiers will repeat this gesture very soon, very soon," he said.
The rally was one of several rallies held on Saturday in the country, where protesters wearing the yellow, red and blue flag of the Venezuelan flag honked, hammered on drums and chanted "Guaido, Guaido, Guaido".
"These are years of business destruction and poverty," said Pedro Gimenez, 51, a worker in an aluminum factory in the state of Bolivar in the south of the country. "We want a better present and a better future and we are about to achieve it."
As a possible sign of the weakening of Maduro's support, the riot police, who had planned to prevent the protesters from going to the rallies, decided to let them pbad in at least three cities, according to witnesses from Guaido and Reuters.
GROWTH UNDER PRESSURE
The humanitarian aid of an "international coalition" would soon go to Venezuela, which is facing a hunger and a shortage of medicines, from collection points in Brazil, Colombia and an island of Caribbean, said Guaido.
It is unclear whether the Maduro government, which denies that the country is suffering from a humanitarian crisis, will let out any foreign aid.
"In the coming days, we will ask for your help to get this help," said Guaido, asking the armed forces to create a humanitarian corridor. "It will not be an easy task."
The self-proclaimed president, who has no control over state institutions or any function of day-to-day governance, said the opposition would not abandon the protests as long as Maduro did not resign and would not allowed the holding of free elections.
Maduro's opponents claim that he's ridiculed democratic institutions and destroyed the once flourishing economy, through a corruption-controlled exchange control system and arbitrary nationalizations.
The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have recognized Guaido as a legitimate head of state. Some EU Member States are expected to officially recognize Guaido next week, while others are likely to adopt a more cautious stance. Maduro still has the support of Russia and China.
In an effort to pressure Maduro financially, Washington has imposed heavy sanctions on the state-owned oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL]although these may aggravate the plight of ordinary citizens by limiting the use of the hard currency necessary for imports.
"(US President Donald) Trump imposes measures because he is the dictator of the world and thinks we are his slaves," said Gregory Carrasquel, 35, at the pro-government rally in Caracas, which was attended by many public sector workers bearing the mark. red socialist shirts.
"For us Venezuelans, there is only one president – President Nicolas Maduro."
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