Venezuelan opposition leader to meet Pence in Bogota after weekend of violence
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/24/americas/venezuela-pompeo-maduro-colombia/index.html
(CNN)Venezuela's self-declared interim president and opposition leader, Juan Guaido, is set to meet US Vice President Mike Pence in the Colombian capital Bogota Monday, following a weekend of deadly violence at the Venezuelan border.
Fresh violence erupted after the Venezuelan military blocked food and supplies from crossing the border from Colombia. The Colombian foreign minister said 285 people were hurt, and 37 hospitalized, after the Venezuelan National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters near the Colombian border Saturday.
Guaido, who is battling President Nicolas Maduro for control of the country, had called for other nations to send aid to Venezuela in response to worsening food and medicine shortages.
Pompeo says more sanctions on Venezuela to come
National Assembly Representative and Guaido supporter Adriana Pichardo told CNN that at least five people were also killed in clashes with Venezuelan security forces.
CNN cannot independently confirm the number of fatalities, but Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said there were four deaths and 300 injuries Friday and Saturday.
Sunday was quieter. Small clashes broke out again at a town near the border with Colombia. CNN's team in Ureña, Venezuela, saw dozens of people throwing rocks toward Venezuela's National Guard, who fired back with rubber bullets. There was no report on injuries.
Maduro put out a defiant message Sunday.
"The people are united in the streets, mobilized and alert in every corner of the country," he said on Twitter. "I call on men and women of goodwill, not to lower their guard and to stay in the fight to preserve Venezuela's peace. Long live the Rebel homeland!"
When he arrived in Bogota, Guaido said, "Yesterday we saw an unprecedented crime with the burning of humanitarian aid that generously arrived at the Colombian collection point and which was then handed over to Venezuelan volunteers, who are again insisting that it's necessary to save lives. Venezuela today is again in crisis and it could have been alleviated yesterday."
Guaido declared that Saturday was the deadline to move the food and other supplies across the border.
But Maduro vowed to block the supplies, denying that a humanitarian crisis exists in Venezuela and suggesting that aid efforts are part of a US plot to orchestrate a coup.
Violence flares at Venezuela's border
Bogota on Saturday night said all border crossings between Colombia and Venezuela would be closed Sunday and Monday so that authorities could evaluate damage to infrastructure it said had been caused by the Maduro government.
Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said Sunday -- after security forces had fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters -- that the country's security forces had protected the border in "exemplary" fashion.
But Bachelet, the UN official, said the violence was excessive.
"People have been shot and killed, others have reportedly received wounds from which they will never completely recover, including losing eyes," she said in a statement. "These are disgraceful scenes. The Venezuelan government must stop its forces from using excessive force against unarmed protesters and ordinary citizens."
The governor of Roraima, the Brazilian state bordering Venezuela, declared a state of medical emergency on Sunday, according to a press release from the Roraima Ministry of Health.
A Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guard officer throws a teargas grenade towards demonstrator in Urena Saturday.
A Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guard officer throws a teargas grenade towards demonstrator in Urena Saturday.
Governor Antonio Denarium is quoted in the release saying the state's largest hospital, in the capital Boa Vista, is "at the brink of collapse" following the influx of victims injured in clashes across the border in Venezuela. As of now, 20 patients are being treated in Roraima hospitals, according to the release.
Trucks carrying supplies were blocked at most spots Saturday. Humanitarian aid moved through the Brazilian-Venezuelan border in Pacaraima, according to Maria Teresa Belandria, Venezuela's opposition-appointed ambassador to Brazil.
Witnesses said two trucks were set ablaze while attempting to cross into Venezuela from Colombia.
CNN cannot independently confirm the incident or the circumstances of how the two trucks were set on fire.
Rodriguez accused Guaido supporters of burning the trucks. While a CNN team saw incendiary devices from police on the Venezuelan side of the border ignite the trucks, the network's journalists are unsure if the trucks were burned on purpose.
Venezuelan soldiers faced off against protesters who were demanding to cross the border at Ureña to go work in Colombia, according to a CNN crew that witnessed the scene at the Tienditas Bridge.
In a sign that Maduro's grip on the military -- control of which is seen as integral to forcing new elections -- could be waning, Colombia's customs agency said Sunday that 104 members of Venezuela's security forces have defected, entering Colombia.
Images of burning trucks 'sickening'
In a series of tweets Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the actions of Maduro's government and said the US would "take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela."
"We denounce Maduro's refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach #Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening," Pompeo tweeted.
Secretary Pompeo@SecPompeo · Feb 24, 2019
The U.S. condemns the attacks on civilians in #Venezuela perpetrated by Maduro’s thugs. These attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries. Our deepest sympathies to the families of those who have died due to these criminal acts. We join their demand for justice. #EstamosUnidosVE
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Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo
We denounce Maduro’s refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach #Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening. pic.twitter.com/bJ1Qsxkgx8
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He blamed "Maduro's thugs" for attacks on civilians, accused "Cuban agents" of directing the attacks and praised opposition leader Guaido -- recognized by 50 nations including the US as Venezuela's interim president -- for leading the effort to allow the aid through.
"While Interim President Juan Guaido builds distribution networks for humanitarian assistance, Maduro blocks its entry and sends armed criminal gangs to attack the innocent civilians accompanying the convoys," Pompeo said in a statement Saturday.
US leaders weigh in
On Monday, Pence will travel to Colombia to address a meeting of the Lima Group -- made up of leaders mostly from Latin American countries. The White House said Pence would "voice the United States' unwavering support for interim President Juan Guaido and highlight the Venezuelan people's fight for democracy over dictatorship."
A White House official said Saturday that Pence will meet with Guaido on Monday in Bogota, during Pence's visit to Colombia.
Juan Guaidó
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guaidó
Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (Spanish: [hwaŋ heˈɾaɾðo ɣwai̯ˈðo ˈmaɾ.kes]; born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician who has been serving as President of the National Assembly of Venezuela and as the partially recognized interim President of Venezuela since January 2019. He is a member of the centrist social-democratic Popular Will party, and serves as a federal deputy to the National Assembly, representing the state of Vargas.
During the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Guaidó took a public oath to serve as interim President of Venezuela, contesting the leadership of Nicolás Maduro. As of February 2019, his position on holding the interim presidency, based on an interpretation of Article 233 of the Constitution of Venezuela, has been recognized by more than 50 governments. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) rejected the National Assembly decisions while the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela in exile welcomed him as interim president.
Shortly after Guaidó became President of the National Assembly, he was briefly detained by authorities. He has also been prohibited from leaving the country, has had his assets frozen, is the subject of a probe into accusations that he helped foreign countries interfere in internal matters and has been threatened by government official
KRIZA U VENEZUELI
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Nicolás Maduro
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