Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Self-declared interim president Juan Guaidó says that the US has been "decisive" in its support for him

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has said he is considering asking the US to launch a military intervention in the embattled country.

Speaking to the BBC's Nick Bryant, he said he would "evaluate all options" to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

Last week he launched a failed attempt to spark a military rebellion and force Mr Maduro out of power.

The president responded by delivering an address from an army base in Caracas, flanked by soldiers.

Mr Guaidó declared himself Venezuela's interim leader in January. As the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, he invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Mr Maduro's re-election last year was illegitimate.

But Mr Maduro - who is backed by Russia, China and the leaders of Venezuela's military - has refused to cede power.

Mr Guaidó has the support of more than 50 countries, including the US, UK and most Latin American nations - and he has told the BBC that US support for him has been "decisive".

"I think President [Donald] Trump's position is very firm, which we appreciate, as does the entire world," he said.

Asked whether he would like Mr Trump and the US military to intervene, he responded it is "responsible to evaluate" the possibility of international intervention, adding: "I, as the president in charge of the national parliament, will evaluate all options if necessary."

What has the US said?

Mr Trump told reporters on Friday that he wasn't looking to get the US military involved in Venezuela.

He said that in a call, Russian president Vladimir Putin had assured him that "he is not looking to get involved in Venezuela other than he'd like to see something positive happen for Venezuela", before adding: "And I feel the same way."

But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had much stronger words for Russia on Sunday, telling the US broadcaster ABC that "the Russians must get out".

"It's very clear, we want the Russians out, we want the Iranians out, we want the Cubans out," he said.

Has Guaidó been defeated?

In response to the clashes this week, Mr Maduro appeared on Friday flanked by soldiers at an army base in Caracas, calling on the armed forces to defeat "any coup plotter".

"No one dare touch our sacred ground or bring war to Venezuela," he added, in a show of defiance that followed days of clashes. Four people died in the violence, including two teenagers.

Image copyright EPA Image caption The armed forces did not appear to heed Mr Guaidó's call to defect

But Mr Guaidó denies that he has been defeated, telling the BBC that President Maduro "has been losing again and again".

"I think the only one who really hurts himself is Maduro," he said. "He has been losing again and again. He is increasingly weak, increasingly alone, and has no international support. On the contrary, we gain acceptance, support and future options."

He also claims that it is "clearly visible that the armed forces no longer support Maduro".

How did the violence unfold?

On Wednesday, both pro- and anti-government supporters held demonstrations in Caracas which were initially peaceful.

There were reports of gunfire in the city, and a local NGO, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, said Jurubith Rausseo, 27, had been shot dead during a rally in the opposition stronghold of Altamira.

At least 46 people were injured in clashes between opposition supporters and the security forces.

On Tuesday, Mr Guaidó declared what he called the "final phase" of the operation to topple Mr Maduro. He posted a video of him with a number of men in uniform and said he had the support of "brave soldiers" in Caracas.

He urged Venezuelans to join them on the streets, and appeared alongside another opposition leader, Leopoldo López, who had been under house arrest after being found guilty of inciting violence during protests in 2014.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why Venezuela matters to the US... and vice versa

Spain's government later said that Mr López and his family had sought safety in their embassy, but said the opposition figure had not claimed political asylum.

An arrest warrant for violating the house arrest order was issued for Mr López, according to a statement on the Supreme Court's website. The order stated that Mr López should continue to serve the rest of his 13-year sentence in prison.

Spain said it had no intention of handing over Mr López to the Venezuelan authorities. </s> Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is considering asking the US to launch a military intervention to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

On Sunday Guaidó said he would 'evaluate all options' after the attempt to topple Maduro failed on Tuesday.

The president responded by delivering an address from an army base in Caracas, flanked by soldiers but five people were killed during subsequent protests.

Guaidó told the BBC he has the support of more than 50 countries and and that US giving its backing to their cause has been 'decisive.'

'I think President [Donald] Trump's position is very firm, which we appreciate, as does the entire world,' he said.

Asked whether he would like Mr Trump and the US military to intervene, he responded it is 'responsible to evaluate' the possibility of international intervention.

He added: 'I as the president in charge of the national parliament, will evaluate all options if necessary.'

The U.S.-backed Guaidó declared himself interim president in January, saying Maduro's re-election last year was rigged and one in a series of increasingly authoritarian steps since he replaced the late Hugo Chávez in 2013 as president.

Venezuela, meanwhile, has been in sharp decline for years, suffering from hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine that the opposition blames on state corruption and mismanagement by the socialist administration.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing to use a broad range of options to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

He claimed that the fall of Maduro's government is imminent and that the support for opposition leader Juan Guaidó remains strong.

'We have a full range of options that we're preparing for,' Pompeo said on ABC's This Week.

He explained that potential paths forward include 'diplomatic options, political options, options with our allies and then ultimately a set of options that would involve use of U.S. military.'

'We're preparing those for [Guaidó] so that when the situation arises, we're not flatfooted,' Pompeo said.

When asked if President Trump believes he can intervene without congressional authorization, Pompeo responded by saying he was 'very confident any action we took in Venezuela would be lawful.'

The development comes as grieving family members and friends were at the funeral of a 14-year-old boy shot dead during a fierce uprising in the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

Yhoifer Hernandez was one of five people killed after thousands launched protests against President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The child was hit by gunfire during Wednesday's clashes in Caracas, while 16-year-old Yosner Graterol died from a gunshot wound after unrest in the northern town of La Victoria on Tuesday.

Heartbreaking pictures show Yhoifer's relatives and supporters break down in tears at the Eastern Cemetery in La Guairita, Caracas, as they buried the child on Saturday.

A group of female attendees can be seen desperately clinging to Yhoifer's coffin - which had been covered with a white sheet during a service.

Another image shows the mud-splattered slab of brick used as his tombstone, which has his name sprayed on to it in black paint.

A crowd of around 100 people gathered in the sandy graveyard for a service, with some seen holding umbrellas and another clutching the flag of Venezuela.

It follows a week of bloodshed in Venezuela as the military loyal to President Maduro crushed an uprising inspired by opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

Mr Guaidó has urged his supporters to converge on military garrisons to try to persuade military forces to turn against Maduro, whose years in office have been marked by escalating hardship for most people in a country that was once one of the wealthiest in Latin America.

But in a show of strength yesterday, President Maduro posed for a photo with thousands of his soldiers and bellowed 'loyal forever' to a crowd of cadets in green uniforms.



But this morning, in a blow for President Maduro, seven Venezuelan military officers were killed after their helicopter crashed while heading to the state where he appeared alongside troops.

The Cougar helicopter hurtled into a mountain outside Caracas in the early hours of an overcast day in the capital and an investigation has been launched.

On board the helicopter were two lieutenant colonels as well as five lower-ranking officers.

The statement did not say if the chopper was part of the presidential delegation.

Also in Caracas on Saturday, a protester handed over a written appeal for the military's support, only for a Venezuelan policeman to burn the document in front of him.

The armed forces 'won't be blackmailed or bought', said a second officer standing nearby.

Benito Rodriguez fumed as he watched the events unfold.

'It's a humiliation,' said Mr Rodriguez, a demonstrator who had joined a crowd of about 150 protesters gathered near La Casona, a residence historically used by Venezuelan presidents.

The scene highlights the uphill battle now facing opponents of Mr Maduro who have failed to persuade the country's security forces to join efforts to oust the leader.

The critical role of the Venezuelan military in the country's crisis was on display as Mr Maduro tried to portray strength by joining troops at the military academy, while Mr Guaido attempted to woo the armed forces to his side.

National television showed Mr Maduro wearing a camouflage hat as he shook hands and exchanged fist bumps with security forces during a visit to a military base before watching troops engage in a shooting exercise.

As demonstrators linked arms and moved toward police, protest leader Maria Suarez urged calm.

'Please, a lot of discipline,' she said.

Others broke the line and went forward to hand over printed documents, saying the military's role in helping Venezuela emerge from an 'unsustainable' situation is vital.

'They think it's a joke. They don't take us seriously. They're not listening,' said demonstrator Andrea Palma after police burned the paper with a lighter.

Divisions among the protesters were evident as some young men from poor neighbourhoods scoffed at a speaker who insisted that the gathering must be peaceful.

'It's the frustration talking,' said demonstrator Mariajose Molina.

The latest displays of will comes as the political standoff between Mr Maduro and US-backed Mr Guaido sinks deeper into a stalemate.

On Tuesday, Mr Guaido appeared outside a Caracas military base and urged the military to overthrow his political rival. </s> Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó said on Saturday he has asked his envoy to the United States to meet with Pentagon officials to "cooperate" on a solution to the South American country's political crisis.

Guaidó, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, added he had received word from China that the country would join a diplomatic effort between European and Latin American countries, known as the International Contact Group on Venezuela, to negotiate an end to the crisis.

In January, Guaidó invoked the OPEC nation's constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing President Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. He has been recognized by most Western and Latin American countries, but Maduro has retained the support of allies China, Russia and Cuba.

Guaidó's effort to oust Maduro so he can take power and call new elections has stalled in recent weeks, after an attempted military uprising on April 30 was put down. Guaidó told an Italian newspaper this week that he would "probably" accept a U.S. military intervention if the United States proposed it.

"We have instructed our ambassador Carlos Vecchio to meet immediately ... with the Southern Command and its admiral to establish a direct relationship," Guaidó said at a rally in Caracas on Saturday. "We have said from the beginning that we will use all the resources at our disposal to build pressure."

Representatives of the U.S. Southern Command and Vecchio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. President Donald Trump's administration officials have repeatedly said that "all options are on the table" to oust Maduro, who calls Guaidó a U.S. puppet seeking to oust him in a coup. The White House however seems to be cold on the possibility of boots on the ground in the unstable country.

The Southern Command said in a tweet on Thursday that it was prepared to discuss "how we can support the future role" of Venezuelan armed forces leaders who "restore constitutional order," when invited by Guaidó.

Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino separately said on Saturday that a U.S. Coast Guard ship had entered Venezuelan territorial waters, which he said "we will not accept."

A Southern Command spokesman had said on Friday that a U.S. Coast Guard vessel was conducting a "counterdrug detection and monitoring mission" in "international waters" in the Caribbean Sea on May 9.

Guaidó was speaking at a rally in support of opposition lawmakers who have been arrested, taken refuge at foreign embassies in Caracas, and been threatened in recent days amid a broad crackdown by Maduro against congress after the April 30 uprising.

Most Latin American countries, as well as the European Union, have expressed opposition to potential military intervention in Venezuela. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said last week the contact group is prepared to begin a "mission at the political level" in Caracas.

While Guaidó has been recognized by some prominent states, Italy is explaining its refusal to recognize the Venezuelan opposition leader as interim president, saying it doesn't want to contribute to any "radicalization" of sides in the political crisis.

In a letter Saturday in La Stampa daily, Premier Giuseppe Conte said Italy considers Guaidó the democratically elected president of the National Assembly, and that President Nicolás Maduro has no "democratic legitimacy."

However he said the government wouldn't recognize Guaidó for "formal-juridical" reasons and "because it is aware of the risk of contributing to the radicalization of various positions and favoring a spiral of violence with the result of making conditions for the people even more dramatic." </s> Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó acknowledged Saturday errors made in attempting to stir a military uprising, and did not discard the option of a potential U.S. military option alongside Venezuelan forces — saying he would take any offer from Washington to a vote in the country’s National Assembly.

After a dramatic week that saw a clandestine plan to oust President Nicolás Maduro fall apart on Tuesday, Guaidó conceded that the opposition had miscalculated its support within the military.

In an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, Guaidó said he expected Maduro to step down amid a groundswell of defectors within the military.

Instead, Guaido’s call for the military to abandon Maduro did not produce mass breakaways in the ranks. Maduro’s security forces then quelled street protests and left Guaido’s U.S.-backed opposition on its heels.

“Probably because we still need more soldiers to support it, to back the constitution,” Guaidó said. “I think the variables are obvious at this point.”

Guaidó — the head of the National Assembly who in January declared Maduro a usurper and claimed the legitimate mantle of national leadership — did not back unilateral U.S. military options. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has given no clear signals on whether it would favor direct military involvement against Maduro.

But Guaidó suggested that he would be open to a U.S. effort that also involved Venezuelan military personnel who have turned against Maduro.

Asked what he would do if national security adviser John Bolton called him up with an offer of U.S. intervention, Guaidó said he would reply: “Dear friend, ambassador John Bolton, thank you for all the help you have given to the just cause here. Thank you for the option, we will evaluate it, and will probably consider it in parliament to solve this crisis. If it’s necessary, maybe we will approve it.”

The remarks were among the strongest Guaidó has issued on the delicate subject of U.S. military assistance — an option that still remains largely unpopular among even those Venezuelans who are opposed to Maduro.

Guaidó said he welcome recent deliberations on military options in Washington, calling them “great news.”

“That’s great news to Venezuela, because we are evaluating all options,” he said. “It’s good to know that important allies like the U.S. are also evaluating that option. That gives us the possibility, that if we need cooperation.”

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> CARACAS: Venezuela reacted with outrage on Monday (May 13) after the opposition openly courted US military support, with the regime denouncing what it called a "repugnant" attempt to plot an armed intervention in the crisis-torn country.

Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez lambasted the move by opposition leader Juan Guaido's representative in Washington, accusing him of paving the way for a US "military intervention."

Guaido's envoy Carlos Vecchio sent a letter to US Southern Command Chief General Craig Faller requesting a meeting to discuss closer cooperation "with the aim of alleviating the suffering of the Venezuelan people and restoring democracy," his aides said on Monday.

Faller last week warned the Venezuelan army it must decide whether to support the people or a "tyrant" - a reference to embattled President Nicolas Maduro.

Despite economic collapse and international isolation, the embattled socialist president has to date retained the support of the powerful military.

Guaido, locked in a power struggle with Maduro since he declared himself interim president in January - winning recognition from more than 50 countries - has sought to ratchet up pressure on the regime abroad as his support at home has waned.

However, his open courting of the US Southern Command, responsible for the Latin American region, is a bold new step for Guaido, following the failure of an Apr 30 uprising.

It comes after Faller said in a tweet on Friday that he was at Guaido's disposal to discuss "support" for military leaders who abandon Maduro.

Vecchio's office said the meeting could take place in the coming days.

"We read and we reject this repugnant letter, in which one of the coup leaders hiding today in Washington, asks for military intervention in Venezuela," Rodriguez said in her speech.

Alongside Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, she said such a "submissive" stance was not only to be condemned but was "doomed to failure."

Padrino and army chiefs have made repeated public pledges of support for Maduro and high-profile defections have been few and far between.

In a video message posted late Sunday on Twitter, the Venezuelan air force's General Ramon Rangel urged the military to forsake Maduro. "It's time to rise up, it's time to fight," he urged.

Rangel - who appeared in civilian clothes and whose location is unknown - is the latest of several military figures to call on Venezuela's military to abandon Maduro.

Army sources in Caracas dismissed Rangel as irrelevant, saying he had not been active in the military for years.

Another air force general, Francisco Yanez, pledged his allegiance to opposition leader Juan Guaido on Feb 2 - but with few exceptions, the army has remained in Maduro's corner.

The highest-profile defector has been intelligence chief Cristopher Figuera, who joined the opposition last month.

Figuera and 55 other officers have been expelled from the Venezuelan armed forces, and Maduro has followed up with a crackdown on lawmakers who backed Guaido's uprising, chipping away at his support base inside the country.

At his weekly anti-government rally on Saturday, Guaido urged his supporters to maintain nationwide protests in the face of the crackdown, in which his deputy Edgar Zambrano and nine others have been arrested for treason.

Some 1,500 to 2,000 people filled a square in an opposition-friendly part of eastern Caracas to hear Guaido, but that was far fewer than the several thousands who took part in earlier protests.

Maduro, re-elected last year in elections widely seen as rigged, has presided over the collapse of once-rich Venezuela, which sits on the world's biggest oil reserves.

The country has suffered more than four years of recession marked by shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicine.

The United Nations says a quarter of Venezuela's 30 million population are in urgent need of aid, and more than 2.7 million have fled the deprivation.

The United States, Guaido's main international backer, has not ruled out a military intervention to resolve the Venezuelan crisis, which Maduro said is a naked attempt to appropriate the country's vast oil reserves.

In his letter, Vecchio said "the conditions in Venezuela are worsening, as a consequence of the corrupt, incompetent and illegitimate regime of the usurper Nicolas Maduro." </s> Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature is calling for a mass protest against President Nicolas Maduro in an attempt to remove the Marxist leader from the presidency. Maduro was sworn in for a second six-year term on January 10, even though his presidency has been declared null and void by 13 of Venezuela’s neighbors. Brazil’s government issued a statement on January 12 saying it recognized Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, as the country’s rightful president and welcomed Guaido’s readiness to “constitutionally assume the Venezuelan presidency.”

Guaido, speaking to a crowd of around 1,000 opposition supporters in Caracas on January 11, said that the nation’s constitution gives the legislature the right to assume transitional power after declaring Maduro a “usurper,” but that removing Maduro would need military backing, and people taking to the streets to demand change.

“Is it enough to lean on the constitution in a dictatorship? No. It needs to be the people, the military, and the international community that lead us to take over,” said Guaido.

The New York Times reported on January 13 that Guaido was briefly arrested two days after delivering his speech to supporters. A video recorded by a motorist appeared to show masked, heavily armed agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service pulling Guaido from his vehicle and pushing him into a van and then driving away.

However, Guaido was released shortly afterward, according to Edward Rodriguez, the head of communications for the National Assembly.

Jorge Rodriguez, the Venezuelan communications minister, said that Guaido’s arrest was “arbitrary” and was not been ordered by the government. “We have learned that there has been an irregular situation where a group of officials, acting unilaterally, initiated an irregular procedure against congressman Juan Guaido,” said the minister, adding that the matter had been “solved.”

AFP reported that U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the Trump administration “resolutely supports the Venezuelan National Assembly, the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people,” and especially supports “the courageous decision” by Guaido to “declare that Maduro does not legitimately hold the country's presidency.”

In Washington, Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro recognized Guaido as head of state, tweeting: “We welcome the assumption of @jguaido as interim President of Venezuela.”

Venezuela’s Crude Oil Exports to U.S. Declining Sharply </s> Fireworks launched by opponents of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro land near Bolivarian National Guard armored vehicles loyal to Maduro, during an attempted military uprising in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Opposition leader Juan Guaido took to the streets with a small contingent of heavily armed troops in a call for the military to rise up. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Fireworks launched by opponents of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro land near Bolivarian National Guard armored vehicles loyal to Maduro, during an attempted military uprising in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Opposition leader Juan Guaido took to the streets with a small contingent of heavily armed troops in a call for the military to rise up. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opposition leader Juan Guaidó took a bold step to revive his movement to seize power in Venezuela, taking to the streets Tuesday to call for a military uprising that drew quick support from the Trump administration and fierce resistance from forces loyal to socialist Nicolas Maduro.

The violent street battles that erupted in parts of Caracas were the most serious challenge yet to Maduro’s rule. And while the rebellion seemed to have garnered only limited military support, at least one high-ranking official announced he was breaking with Maduro, in a setback for the embattled president.

In a Tuesday night appearance on national television, Maduro declared that the opposition had attempted to impose an “illegitimate government” with the support of the United States and neighboring Colombia. He said Venezuela had been a victim of “aggression of all kinds.”

Meanwhile, Guaidó sought to keep the momentum going at the end of the day by releasing his own video message in which he pressed Venezuelans to take to the streets again on Wednesday.

The competing quests to solidify a hold on power capped a dramatic day that included a tense moment when several armored vehicles plowed into a group of anti-government demonstrators trying to storm the capital’s air base, hitting at least two protesters.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said the Trump administration was waiting for three key officials, including Maduro’s defense minister and head of the supreme court, to act on what he said were private pledges to remove Maduro. He did not provide details.

The stunning events began early Tuesday when Guaidó, flanked by a few dozen national guardsmen and some armored crowd-control vehicles, released the three-minute video shot near the Carlota air base.

In a surprise, Leopoldo Lopez, Guaido’s political mentor and the nation’s most-prominent opposition activist, stood alongside him. Detained in 2014 for leading a previous round of anti-government unrest, Lopez said he had been released from house arrest by security forces adhering to an order from Guaidó.

“I want to tell the Venezuelan people: This is the moment to take to the streets and accompany these patriotic soldiers,” Lopez declared.

As the two opposition leaders coordinated actions from a highway overpass, troops loyal to Maduro fired tear gas from inside the adjacent air base.

A crowd that quickly swelled to a few thousand scurried for cover, reappearing later with Guaidó at a plaza a few blocks from the disturbances. A smaller group of masked youths stayed behind on the highway, lobbing rocks and Molotov cocktails toward the air base and setting a government bus on fire.

Amid the mayhem, several armored utility vehicles careened over a berm and drove at full speed into the crowd. Two demonstrators, lying on the ground with their heads and legs bloodied, were rushed away on a motorcycle as the vehicles sped away dodging fireballs thrown by the demonstrators.

“It’s now or never,” said one of the young rebellious soldiers, his face covered in the blue bandanna worn by the few dozen insurgent soldiers.

The head of a medical center near the site of the street battles said doctors were treating 50 people, about half of them with injuries suffered from rubber bullets. At least one person had been shot with live ammunition. Venezuelan human rights group Provea said a 24-year-old man was shot and killed during an anti-government protest in the city of La Victoria.

Later Tuesday, Lopez and his family sought refuge in the Chilean ambassador’s residence in Caracas, where another political ally has been holed up for over a year. They later moved to the Spanish embassy. There were also reports that 25 troops who had been with Guaidó fled to Brazil’s diplomatic mission.

Amid the confusion, Maduro tried to project an image of strength, saying he had spoken to several regional military commanders who reaffirmed their loyalty.

“Nerves of steel!” he said in a message posted on Twitter.

Flanked by top military commanders, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López condemned Guaido’s move as a “terrorist” act and “coup attempt” that was bound to fail like past uprisings.

“Those who try to take Miraflores with violence will be met with violence,” he said on national television, referring to the presidential palace where hundreds of government supporters, some of them brandishing firearms, had gathered in response to a call to defend Maduro.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the “right-wing extremists” would not succeed in fracturing the armed forces, which have largely stood with the socialist leader throughout the months of turmoil.

“Since 2002, we’ve seen the same pattern,” Arreaza told The Associated Press. “They call for violence, a coup, and send people into the streets so that there are confrontations and deaths. And then from the blood they try to construct a narrative.”

But in a possible sign that Maduro’s inner circle could be fracturing, the head of Venezuela’s secret police penned a letter breaking ranks with the embattled leader.

Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera, the head of Venezuela’s feared SEBIN intelligence agency, wrote a letter to the Venezuelan people saying that while he has always been loyal to Maduro it is now time to “rebuild the country.”

He lamented that corruption has become so rampant that “many high-ranking public servants practice it like a sport.”

“The hour has arrived for us to look for other ways of doing politics,” he wrote. “To build the homeland our children and grandchildren deserve.”

The letter circulating on social media was confirmed by a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details of the case. He said the general’s wife is currently outside the country.

Guaidó said he called for the uprising to restore Venezuela’s constitutional order, broken when Maduro was sworn in earlier this year for a second term following elections boycotted by the opposition and considered illegitimate by dozens of countries.

He said that in the coming hours he would release a list of top commanders supporting the uprising.

“The armed forces have taken the right decision,” said Guaidó. “With the support of the Venezuelan people and the backing of our constitution they are on the right side of history.”

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Anti-government demonstrators gathered in several other cities, although there were no reports that Guaidó’s supporters had taken control of any military installations.

As events unfolded, governments from around the world expressed support for Guaidó while reiterating calls to avoid violent confrontation.

Bolton declined to discuss possible actions - military or otherwise - but reiterated that “all options” are on the table as President Donald J. Trump monitors developments “minute by minute.”

He said he was waiting for key power brokers including Padrino, Supreme Court chief justice Maikel Moreno and head of the presidential guard to make good on their commitments to achieve the peaceful transfer of power to Guaidó.

“All agreed that Maduro had to go. They need to be able to act this afternoon, or this evening, to help bring other military forces to the side of the interim president,” Bolton said. “If this effort fails, (Venezuela) will sink into a dictatorship from which there are very few possible alternatives.”

Elsewhere, Spain’s socialist caretaker government urged restraint, while the governments of Cuba and Bolivia reiterated their support for Maduro.

___

Joshua Goodman in Cucuta, Colombia, contributed to this report. </s> CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) — Opposition leader Juan Guaido has called on the international community to consider “all options” to resolve Venezuela’s crisis, a dramatic escalation in rhetoric that echoes comments from the Trump administration hinting…

CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) — Opposition leader Juan Guaido has called on the international community to consider “all options” to resolve Venezuela’s crisis, a dramatic escalation in rhetoric that echoes comments from the Trump administration hinting at potential U.S. military involvement.

Guaido’s comments late Saturday came after a tumultuous day that saw President Nicolas Maduro’s forces fire tear gas and buckshot on activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid in violent clashes that left two people dead and some 300 injured.

For weeks, the U.S. and regional allies had been amassing emergency food and medical kits on Venezuela’s borders in anticipation of carrying out a “humanitarian avalanche” by land and sea to undermine Maduro’s rule.

With activists failing to penetrate government blockades and deliver the aid, Guaido announced late Saturday that he would escalate his appeal to the international community — beginning with a meeting Monday in Colombia’s capital with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the sidelines of an emergency summit of leaders of the so-called Lima Group to discuss Venezuela’s crisis.

He said he would urge the international community to keep “all options open” in the fight to restore Venezuela’s democracy, using identical language to that of President Donald Trump, who in his public statements has repeatedly refused to rule out force and reportedly even secretly pressed aides as early as 2017 about the possibility of a military incursion.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also stepped up the belligerent rhetoric, saying on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that Maduro’s “days are numbered.”

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who visited the border last week and has Trump’s ear on policy toward Venezuela, tweeted out pictures of anti-American strongmen including Panama’s Manuel Noriega, Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi and Romania’s Nicolae Ceausescu at the height of their power and then brutal downfall — the not so subtle suggestion being that Maduro himself could suffer a similar fate.

A close Guaido ally, Julio Borges, the exiled leader of congress who is Guaido’s ambassador to the Lima Group, was even more explicit in urging a military option. “We are going to demand an escalation of diplomatic pressure … and the use of force against Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship,” he said Sunday.

It’s a prospect that analysts warn risks fracturing a hard-won coalition of Latin American nations who’ve come together to pressure Maduro’s socialist government. Most Latin American governments, even conservative ones like those in neighboring Colombia and Brazil, are on the record opposing a military solution and would face huge dissent should they back any military action led by the U.S., whose interventions in the region during the Cold War remain an open wound.

“These governments know they would face a huge tide of internal opinion greatly offended by a U.S.-led invasion for historical and political reasons,” said Ivan Briscoe, the Latin America director for the Crisis Group, a Belgium-based think tank.

It also could split what has until been bipartisan support for the Trump administration’s policy toward Venezuela.

Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, over the weekend warned about a “potential trap being set by Trump.”

“Cheering humanitarian convoys sounds like the right thing to do, but what if it’s not about the aid? What if the real agenda is laying a pretext for war?” Murphy said on Twitter.

At the same time, though polls say Venezuelans overwhelmingly want Maduro to resign, almost an equal number reject the possibility of a foreign invasion to resolve the political impasse.

Resting at the foot of the Simon Bolivar bridge as work crews in Colombia began removing debris left by the unrest, Claudia Aguilar said she would support a military invasion but worries it would lead to more bloodshed.

The 29-year-old pregnant mother of three said she crossed illegally into Colombia on Sunday to buy a bag of rice and pasta for her family after Maduro ordered a partial closure of the border two days earlier.

“We’re with fear, dear God, of what will happen,” she said standing near the dirt trail she took to sneak across the border. “More blood, more deaths. The president of Venezuela does whatever he wants.”

In addition to weakening multilateral pressure against Maduro, analysts say the opposition saber rattling also risks undermining Guaido’s goal of peeling off support from the military, the country’s crucial powerbroker.

The 35-year-old Guaido has won the backing of more than 50 governments around the world since declaring himself interim president at a rally in January, arguing that Maduro’s re-election last year was illegitimate because some popular opposition candidates were barred from running.

But he’s so far been unable to cause a major rift inside the military, despite repeated appeals and the offer of amnesty to those joining the opposition’s fight for power.

“How many of you national guardsmen have a sick mother? How many have kids in school without food,” he implored Saturday night, standing next to a warehouse where 600 tons of food and medicine have been stockpiled on the Colombian border. “You don’t owe any obedience to a sadist … who celebrates the denial of humanitarian aid the country needs.”

Maduro has deftly courted support from the military since becoming president in 2013, offering top commanders key posts in his cabinet, including the presidency of state-run oil giant PDVSA, the source of virtually all of Venezuela’s dollar earnings.

More than 100 members of the security forces, most of them lower-rank soldiers, deserted and took refuge inside Colombia during Saturday’s unrest, according to migration officials. But none of them was higher ranked than a National Guard major, and there’s been little suggestion any battalion or division commanders are willing to defect despite almost daily calls by Guaido and the U.S.

To be sure, there’s no indication the U.S. is planning a military invasion and Trump has made a habit of threatening friends and foes alike — China, North Korea and Canada among them — only to dial back the rhetoric down the road. Washington still has more diplomatic tools available, including extending oil sanctions to punish non-American entities that conduct business with Maduro’s government in much the way such sanctions strangled communist Cuba for decades.

Still, as early as 2017, Trump reportedly raised the possibility of a U.S. military incursion in Venezuela similar to the 1989 invasion that led to the ouster of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, both in an Oval Office meeting with then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other aides, as well as at a session with leaders of four Latin American allies on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to a senior administration official who has since left the White House.

In both cases Trump abandoned the war talk at the urging of his advisers and allies in the region. Prior to the current crisis, there was never any war planning by the military, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private conversations.

Still, momentum toward a confrontation seems to be building as hopes for a quick crumbling of Maduro’s government fade.

“It acts like a magnet,” said Briscoe of the possibility of a U.S.-led intervention. “As Plan A and B fail, it’s where everyone seems to be going. But the further you move in that direction, you weaken the multilateral approach and reduce the possibility that large parts of the military will turn against Maduro.”

Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and AP writer Christine Armario reported in Cucuta, Colombia.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó on Saturday said he’s instructed his political envoy in Washington to immediately open relations with the U.S. military in a bid to bring more pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to resign.

Guaidó said he’s asked Carlos Vecchio, whom the United States recognizes as Venezuela’s ambassador, to open “direct communications” toward possible military “coordination.”

The remarks, at the end of a rally Saturday, were one of his strongest public pleas yet for greater U.S. involvement in the country’s escalating crisis. While Guaidó has repeatedly echoed comments from the Trump administration that “all options” are on the table for removing Maduro, few in the U.S. or Venezuelan opposition view military action as likely, nor has the White House indicated it’s seriously considering such a move.

But with tensions between the U.S. and Maduro running high, the saber rattling is getting louder.

On Saturday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino condemned what he said was an illegal incursion by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter into Venezuelan territorial waters. He provided no evidence to back the claim but said that the Venezuelan Navy vessels forced it to withdraw.

“I don’t know if other republics will accept actions like this in their jurisdiction, but we will not,” he said.

U.S. Army Col. Amanda Azubuike, a Southern Command spokeswoman, said a U.S. Coast Guard vessel was conducting a drug interdiction mission in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea. She declined to provide further comment.

In past days, Padrino also denounced what he said were attempts by the U.S. military to sow discord inside Venezuela’s barracks, inviting an angry response from U.S. Navy Adm. Craig Faller, the head of Southern Command, who said he “stands ready” to assist Guaidó.

“I look forward to discussing how we can support the future role of those (leaders of Venezuelan armed forces) who make the right decision, put the Venezuela people first & restore constitutional order,” Faller said.

As head of the embattled National Assembly, Guaidó launched a campaign in January to oust Maduro, gaining the support of the United States and more than 50 nations.

He announced Saturday a forthcoming meeting with U.S. military officials and said that new actions taken by the opposition will seek to “achieve the necessary pressure” to put an end to the Bolivarian revolution launched 20 years ago by the late socialist President Hugo Chávez.

Guaidó has said that as Venezuela’s self-proclaimed leader he reserves the right to invite foreign military actions in the same way independence hero Simon Bolivar hired 5,000 British mercenaries to liberate South America from Spain. He says any such help should be considered “cooperation,” instead of intervention, something he has accused Maduro of allowing in the form of military and intelligence support from allies Cuba and Russia.

How that argument will play throughout South and Central America, most of whose countries have seen U.S. interventions to support corrupt and murderous governments over the years, remains to be seen.

In recent days, Maduro’s government has sought to ramp up its own pressure on the opposition with the arrest of the No. 2 leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Edgar Zambrano. Several other anti-Maduro lawmakers have sought refuge in the embassies of foreign nations as the country’s top court announced investigations of Zambrano and nine other members of congress.

Meanwhile, noticeably diminished crowds at opposition protests reflected a growing fear and demoralization that has permeated Guaidó’s ranks of supporters after he led a failed military uprising on April 30. In previous months, thousands of demonstrators heeded his calls to protest.

On Saturday, a modest crowd of several hundred gathered in the capital of Caracas.

“We live in dictatorship,” Guaidó said, urging his supporters to press forward in their campaign to oust Maduro. “We don’t have the option to stay at home waiting, but to keep demanding our rights in the streets.”

Guaidó claims that Maduro illegitimately won a second term in rigged elections and has declared himself interim president of Venezuela.

Maduro has maintained control of the military by securing the loyalty of top commanders. He calls Guaidó a “puppet” of the Trump administration and says that the United States is supporting a coup to oust him to exploit the country’s vast oil wealth.

“The U.S. Empire aims to end the Bolivarian Revolution,” Maduro tweeted early Saturday, boasting of the country’s education and social security systems. “We show the world that we can do social justice.”

A once-wealthy oil nation, Venezuela has sunk into economic and social collapse marked by soaring inflation and scarcity of basic goods that has sent an estimated 3.7 million of its citizens to emigrate.
The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaidó tells the BBC he is considering formally requesting the United States to launch a military intervention to topple President Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó led a failed uprising against Maduro last month.