Guaido calls for mass protests ahead of return to Venezuela

Opposition supporters in Venezuela were set to take to the streets Monday after leader Juan Guaido called for mass protests against President Nicolas Maduro — as the self-declared interim president prepared to return after a week touring Latin American allies.

Guaido’s reappearance in Venezuela would pose an immediate challenge to the embattled Maduro.

“I’m announcing my return to the country. I am calling on the Venezuelan people to mobilize all over the country tomorrow at 11:00 am (1500 GMT),” Guaido wrote Sunday on Twitter.

His arrest could allow the opposition to highlight how the Maduro administration represses political foes and prompt the United States to impose even harsher sanctions. But it could also strip the opposition of a public figurehead who has brought unity after years of infighting.

Later, in a video with his wife shared on his social networks, Guaido said if Maduro’s government “tries to kidnap us … it will be one of the last mistakes it makes.”

Guaido, who has been recognized by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s interim president, did not say how or when he would return, though speculation is rife that a flight from the Colombian capital Bogota to Caracas is the most likely route.

Guaido held talks in Salinas — a coastal resort town west of Guayaquil — on Saturday with President Lenin Moreno, and met with Venezuelan refugees.

Guaido secretly left Venezuela for Colombia, in violation of a Supreme Court order, to coordinate efforts there on Feb 23 to send humanitarian aid into Venezuela to alleviate widespread shortages of food and medicine.

But troops loyal to Maduro blocked convoys of aid trucks sent from Colombia and Brazil, leading to clashes that killed at least six people along the Brazilian border, rights groups say.

From Colombia, he then traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Paraguay to shore up Latin American support for a transition government that would precede free and fair elections.

Guaido wants to oust Maduro and set up a transitional government ahead of new elections.

Maduro — who retains the support of Venezuela’s powerful military — enjoys strong support from Russia, which accuses Washington of interventionism, and China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dollars in loans to Maduro’s regime.