Venezuela: Juan Guaido ‘to work with US military’ in bid to unseat Nicolas Maduro

‘We will use all the resources at our disposal,’ says opposition leader

Juan Guaido, Venezuela’s opposition leader, has instructed his Washington envoy to meet with Pentagon officials to “cooperate” on a solution to the country’s political turmoil.

The 35-year-old declared himself the nation’s legitimate leader in January and has been attempting to oust embattle president Nicolas Maduro, with US backing.

“We have instructed our ambassador Carlos Vecchio to meet immediately ... with the Southern Command and its admiral to establish a direct relationship,” he said at a rally in Saturday.

“We have said from the beginning that we will use all the resources at our disposal to build pressure.”

The US Southern Command said in a tweet on Thursday that it was prepared to discuss how to support the future role of Venezuelan armed force leaders who “restore constitutional order” in the country.

“When invited by [Juan Guaido] & the legitimate gov’t of Venezuela, I look forward to discussing how we can support the future role of those [Venezuelan naval] leaders who make the right decision,” the body said.

The command has not responded to Mr Guaido’s latest claims.

Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela’s defence minister, said a US coast guard ship had entered the country’s territorial waters on Saturday, a move he said the Maduro administration would not accept.

A Southern Command spokesperson had said on Friday that a US coast guard vessel would be conducting a “counterdrug detection and monitoring mission” in “international waters” on 9 May.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly said “all options are on the table” to remove Mr Maduro, who has accused the US of trying to orchestrate a coup. Mr Guaido has used the same language.

Mr Guaido alleges that the president’s re-election last year was fraudulent.

But the 35-year-old is under increasing pressure in Caracas, where he led an unsuccessful military uprising against Mr Maduro on 30 April.

He declared himself the country’s legitimate president in January, backed by the US and 50 other nations, but has been unable to remove Mr Maduro or win the backing of Venezuela’s military leaders.

Edgar Zambrano, the opposition leader’s deputy, was towed to prison while sitting in his car on Thursday.

Other lawmakers have left Caracas for foreign embassies, fearing a crackdown in the wake of the failed rebellion.

Mr Guaido claimed the country’s first vice president had been kidnapped, in a post on Twitter.

“We live in dictatorship,” he said at Saturday’s rally. “We don’t have the option to stay at home waiting, but to keep demanding our rights in the streets.”

Earlier this week Mr Guaido told an Italian newspaper that he would “probably” accept a US military intervention in Venezuela.

Additional reporting by agencies