Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Tuesday called for a military uprising to oust President Nicolas Maduro and armed factions clashed at a protest outside a Caracas air base as the country hit a new crisis point.
Reuters witnesses said several dozen mostly young armed men in military uniform accompanying Guaido exchanged gunfire with soldiers acting in support of Maduro outside the La Carlota air base but the opposition did not appear to be about to take power by force.
Guaido, in a video posted on Twitter earlier on Tuesday morning, said he had begun the “final phase” of his campaign to topple Maduro, calling on Venezuelans and the military to back him to end Maduro’s “usurpation.”
Around three hours after his announcement, there was no sign of any other military activity. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Security forces earlier had fired tear gas at Guaido as hundreds of civilians had joined the group, the witnesses said.
Maduro said he had spoken with military leaders and they had shown him “their total loyalty.”
“Nerves of steel!,” Maduro said on Twitter. “I call for maximum popular mobilization to assure the victory of peace. We will win!”
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said the armed forces remained “firmly in defense of the national constitution and legitimate authorities,” and that all military units across Venezuela “report normality” in their barracks and bases.
The move was Guaido’s boldest effort yet to convince the military to rise up against Maduro. If it fails, it could be seen as evidence that he lacks the support he says he has. It might also encourage the authorities, which have already stripped him of parliamentary immunity and opened multiple investigations into him, to arrest him.
The United States is among some 50 countries that recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s president, and has imposed sanctions to try to dislodge Maduro.
Oil prices topped $73, partly driven higher by the uncertainty in Venezuela, an OPEC member whose oil exports have been hit by U.S. sanctions and an economic crisis.
U.S. President Donald Trump “has been briefed and is monitoring the ongoing situation,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. The White House declined comment on whether the administration had been consulted or had advance knowledge of what Guaido was planning.
Guaido, in the video on his Twitter account, was accompanied by men in military uniform and opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, who has been placed under house arrest.
“The national armed forces have taken the correct decision, and they are counting on the support of the Venezuelan people,” Guaido said.
Guaido, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled National Assembly, in January invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s re-election in 2018 was illegitimate.
He has been traveling outside the capital Caracas in recent weeks to try to put pressure on Maduro to step down.
Anti-Maduro protests are planned for Wednesday, including what Guaido has said will be “the largest march in Venezuela’s history,” part of what he calls the “definitive phase” of his effort to take office in order to call fresh elections.
But Maduro, for his part, has appeared to retain control of state institutions and the loyalty of senior military officers.
He has called Guaido a U.S-backed puppet who seeks to oust him in a coup. The government has arrested his top aide, stripped Guaido of his parliamentary immunity and opened multiple probes. It has also barred him from leaving the country, a ban Guaido openly violated earlier this year.
Spain, instrumental in setting the European Union line, said that, although it considered Guaido the legitimate leader of Venezuela, it did not support a military coup and wanted to see elections.
