CARACAS, Venezuela – Smoke and tear gas filled the air outside the military base in Caracas, where crowds chanting “Free Venezuela” flocked to embrace the…
CARACAS, Venezuela – Smoke and tear gas filled the air outside the military base in Caracas, where crowds chanting “Free Venezuela” flocked to embrace the band of soldiers who joined Juan Guaido’s bid to oust President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday.
Violent clashes unfolded all day outside La Carlota base, where thousands of flag-waving opposition demonstrators took a stand alongside a dozen rebel soldiers, wearing blue armbands to show their new allegiance.
It was outside the National Guard base that Guaido filmed a video, posted online Tuesday morning, in which the self-proclaimed acting president claimed to have the support of “brave soldiers.”
“We’re also people and we’re fed up with this dictatorship,” said one of the soldiers backing the 35-year-old National Assembly leader.
“We have families, we’re know how they’re suffering,” said the soldier, still in uniform and carrying a gun on his shoulder, in brief comments to AFP before he was asked by a senior officer to halt the interview.
In his video message, Guaido urged people to take to the streets to demand the socialist Maduro step down.
Heeding his call, groups of protesters with their heads wrapped in clothing to protect them from the tear gas, approached the base’s perimeter fence from a nearby highway, hurling stones and molotov cocktails.
