The United States targeted Venezuela's government with new sanctions on Monday and called on allies to freeze the assets of its state-owned oil company PDVSA after deadly violence blocked aid from reaching the crisis-hit country during the weekend.
Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao said on Monday that under no circumstances would his country allow the United States to intervene militarily in Venezuela from Brazilian territory.
“I will return by the airport,” responded the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly and proclaimed the president in charge, Juan Guaidó, during a press conference in the border city of Cúcuta, Colombia. And is that after the end of the failed humanitarian operation that failed to internalize the oil country tons of food and medicine, many wonders how Guaidó will concretely return to Venezuela.
US Vice President Mike Pence is set to announce “concrete steps” and “clear actions” to address the Venezuela crisis when he meets this Monday with regional leaders in Bogota, Colombia, a senior US administration official said.
Venezuelan soldiers who defected into Colombia on Saturday say they fear for the safety of their families under President Nicolás Maduro's government. Speaking exclusively to the BBC's Orla Guerin, one defector aged 23 says he is worried forces loyal to the president may “lash out against my family”.
In the midst of a tense day in which there have been clashes between volunteers and Venezuelan military officials on the borders of the country, President Nicolás Maduro, considered a usurper by the parliament of his country, announced the “total” cessation of diplomatic relations with Colombia.
Venezuela will live a historic day this Saturday, February 23: thousands of people will gather at the borders of the country for a massive mobilization that expects to receive tons of humanitarian aid.
The president of the National Assembly (AN) and recognized Venezuela’s interim president for half a hundred countries, Juan Guaidó, arrived this Friday by surprise to the Colombian city of Cúcuta, where the concert “Venezuela Aid Live” was held, organized by the British billionaire Richard Branson. Guaidó said that he crossed the border to the Colombian side thanks to the support of the Armed Forces of his country despite the prohibition to leave the country that the administration of Nicolás Maduro imposed on him.
President Nicolas Maduro ordered the closure of Venezuela's border with Brazil on Thursday in an increasingly fraught power struggle. Guaido set out in a convoy of vehicles to personally pick up US aid being stockpiled on the other side of the Colombian border, defying Maduro's military to stop him.
Venezuela’s government said on Wednesday that it was closing its border to air and sea traffic from three Caribbean islands in an effort to block aid shipments to the country organized by the Venezuelan opposition.