CARACAS: Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido was to outline his plans to tackle the country’s economic crisis Thursday after European lawmakers recognized him as the acting head of state – another step forward in his bid to force out President Nicolas Maduro.
The young National Assembly leader is marshaling international support while seeking to maintain street pressure against Maduro at home, with more mass protests scheduled for Saturday.
The United States and a dozen Latin American countries were quick to recognize Guaido, 35, after he declared himself acting president last week in a direct challenge to Maduro’s authority.
He is trying to force the 56-year-old socialist leader from power so he can set up a transitional government and hold new presidential elections.
On Thursday, the Brussels-based European Parliament voted to accept Guaido as “legitimate interim president of the country – and urged the European Union to follow suit.
Six major European nations have said they would do so if Maduro fails to call fresh presidential elections by the weekend.
“If imperialists want new elections, let them wait until 2025,” a defiant Maduro said in an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti agency on Wednesday.
Guaido was to present his “rescue plan” for Venezuela – mired in an economic meltdown, with basic goods and medicines scarce – at the main university in the capital Caracas.
The speech comes one day after thousands of people led by Guaido took to the streets in Caracas and various other cities, banging pots, blowing whistles and horns, and carrying banners that read: “Armed forces, regain your dignity” and “Maduro usurper.”
The two-hour strike was called to press demands “that the armed forces side with the people” – which Guaido himself said is if Maduro is “crucial to enabling a change in government.”
He wrote in a New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday that “clandestine meetings” had been held “with members of the armed forces and the security forces.
“The majority of those in service agree that the country’s recent travails are untenable,” Guaido wrote.
But his moves to court the military are fraught with risk, after bloody clashes following protests last week left more than 40 people dead and 850 incarcerated.
And so far, the military high command has remained loyal to Maduro.
“Do you want a puppet of the gringos to govern Venezuela?” Maduro asked soldiers at a rally on Wednesday, referring to Guaido.
The last 10 days of political upheaval has exacerbated the general disarray in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves but has suffered an economic meltdown marked by hyperinflation and shortages of basic necessities.
Millions have been left in poverty, while 2.3 million more have fled the country, unleashing a migration crisis in South America.
“The conditions favor Guaido, with decisive international support headed by the United States, while the aggravated economic crisis plays into that as well,” analyst Carlos Romero told AFP.
Earlier this week, the United States imposed oil sanctions on Maduro’s regime in an attempt to starve the government of its funding.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned American businesses not to “deal in gold, oil, or other Venezuelan commodities being stolen from the Venezuelan people by the Maduro mafia.”
Britain said Thursday it was considering “targeted sanctions against the kleptocrats who have enriched themselves” on the back of a suffering population.
The punitive measures could deprive Maduro’s regime of 80 percent of its liquidity, analysts said, leaving many citizens worried about how they will cope.
Maduro’s government has meanwhile cracked down on the foreign media working in Venezuela.
Two French reporters, a Spaniard and two Colombian journalists have been detained while two Chileans were deported on Wednesday.
The EU, France and Spain on Thursday demanded the “immediate” release of those detained.
Guaido wrote on Twitter: “Very soon full freedom of expression and information will reign in Venezuela.”
“The dictatorship is getting weaker all the time,” he added. — AFP