Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolas Maduro has claimed his troops have defeated a
The speech followed a dawn address from Guaido Tuesday, in which the young opposition leader, standing alongside a group of soldiers in the capital Caracas, announced an uprising to seize power from Maduro. It marked the most serious challenge to Maduro’s leadership so far and unleashed a day of street protests and skirmishes.
In a follow-up video post, recorded from an unknown location and posted Tuesday evening, Guaido called for renewed action « over the expanse and length of Venezuela. »
He urged « all of Venezuela » to protest on International Worker’s Day, a globally celebrated holiday that falls on May 1.
Despite the government’s claims that the Tuesday uprising had been quashed, Guaido, who is the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said that « Operation Freedom » would continue.
In the video speech, Guaido said that Maduro no longer had the « support nor the respect of the armed forces. »
He asked the military to help advance « Operation Freedom, » which he described as a mission to rescue « our dignity, our country, our people, our family — that is the challenge. »
« May 1, we continue to be in the streets, in the selected places of gathering chosen and defined in all the national territory.
