CARACAS, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas to break up a demonstration in Caracas called by opposition leader Juan Guaido as he seeks to ramp up demands for elections to replace leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
Riot police moved in quickly to break up the demonstration soon after thousands of protesters began marching towards the National Assembly building from the east of the capital.
Guido, recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries including the United States, has been seeking to revive mass protests against Maduro which have largely fizzled out since spiking early last year.
As the opposition leader attempted to negotiate with a police cordon blocking the path of the march on Tuesday, they fired tear gas at the demonstrators.
“This picket today does not represent Venezuela, this picket represents the dictatorship,” Guaido said, referring to the line of police with riot shields.
Most of the marchers left the area, but some with their faces covered threw stones at the police.
“A stage of sustained struggle begins today,” Guaido said earlier as he addressed the crowd through a megaphone from the back of a truck.
Thousands of protesters had begun the march in east Caracas waving Venezuelan flags and caps in the national colors. Local media reported smaller protests in other cities.
“Today we reconvene in the streets, the place where the citizens are free,” said Guaido in a tweet.
Pro-Maduro supporters held a counter-demonstration, where they shouted anti-Guaido slogans and called him a “traitor” for enlisting the help of foreign governments to heap pressure on Maduro’s regime, particularly in the form of sanctions.
Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly, launched a movement to oust Maduro last year, claiming the leftist had usurped power in rigged 2018 elections.
After declaring himself acting president, Guaido quickly secured the backing of more than 50 countries and initially led street protests drawing tens of thousands of people.
But Maduro weathered the protests and maintained control of the powerful armed forces, while Guaido’s popularity has waned. — NNN-AGENCIES
