Bogota - Venezuelans on Wednesday took to the streets around
Caracas in a fresh round of protests to press President Nicolas
Maduro to step down and the army to allow the entry of humanitarian
aid from the United States.
Maduro had told Russian media he was willing to talk to the
opposition but this did nothing to quell the demonstrations, which
had been called by Juan Guaido, speaker of the opposition-controlled
National Assembly.
Guaido declared himself the country's interim president during
nationwide protests a week ago.
"We are being sentenced to death for lack of medicines," read one of
the placards carried by demonstrators waving Venezuelan flags or
wearing caps in the flag colours.
"Guaido president," some of the demonstrators chanted.
The protests were partly aimed at winning over the army, which has so
far sided with Maduro, but which is reported to be divided.
Earlier in the day, Maduro met soldiers participating in a military
exercise in Caracas in what the broadcaster Telesur described as an
attempt to demonstrate the army's power and loyalty to the
government.
The president called on the military to guarantee that "North
American imperialism" would never enter Venezuela and for unity in
its ranks.
On Twitter, Maduro urged the army to be prepared for "the
conspiracies of a group of deserters who have become mercenaries to
attack the fatherland."
US President Donald Trump meanwhile spoke by phone with Guaido, whom
he has recognized as the interim president of Venezuela, and vowed to
"support Venezuela's path back to stability."
The 35-year-old has been recognized as Venezuela's legitimate leader
by several Western nations and the Organization of American States
(OAS), a league of 35 countries.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Maduro had not
responded to a demand from the European Union to hold new
presidential elections. EU foreign ministers would meet in Bucharest
on Thursday to consider their next step, Le Drian told France's
National Assembly.
In an interview with the German daily Bild on Tuesday, Guaido had
called on the EU to follow the US example and to adopt "more
sanctions" against Maduro.
On Wednesday, Maduro told Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti he
was prepared for talks.
"I am ready to sit at the negotiation table with the opposition so
that we can speak for the benefit of Venezuela, for peace and for
[Venezuela's] future," he said.
The offer came after Maduro's regime stepped up pressure on Guaido,
with the Supreme Court on Tuesday banning him from leaving the
country and ordering his bank accounts frozen.
Critics say Maduro's re-election last year was not legitimate and
accuse him of becoming increasingly dictatorial. He has also presided
over an economic disaster as annual inflation has reached nearly 2
million per cent.
Millions of people have fled food and medicine shortages and
political unrest.
The US has pledged 20 million dollars in humanitarian aid at Guaido's
request.
Maduro rejected calls for a new presidential election to be held and
blamed the political turmoil on Trump. "There's no doubt that Donald
Trump had ordered to kill me. He told the Colombian government and
the Colombian mafia to kill me," Maduro told RIA Novosti.
Colombia has denied claims made by Maduro late last year that it is
cooperating with the US to train mercenaries in preparation of an
attack against the Venezuelan government.
The Kremlin meanwhile shrugged off rumours that Russia was set to
receive a surreptitious delivery of 20 tonnes of gold from Venezuela.
"There is no such information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
in comments carried by Russian state news agency TASS.
Russia expects Venezuela to have trouble servicing more than 3
billion dollars of debt to the Russian state, the Russian Finance
Ministry said earlier this week.
Venezuela meanwhile deported two Chilean journalists who had been
arrested for 14 hours in Caracas, Chile's Foreign Minister Roberto
Ampuero tweeted.
President Sebastian Pinera had demanded the release of the two, who
had been doing street interviews, according to the Chilean newscast
24 Horas.
Two Venezuelan journalists who were detained with them had already
been released.