Venezuela aid standoff hardens between Guaido, Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido forged ahead Wednesday with plans to bring US medical and food aid into the country in defiance of the military-backed government, raising fears of possible weekend confrontations.

In the latest maneuver of his standoff with socialist President Nicolas Maduro, self-declared interim leader Guaido rallied bus drivers who he said will head to the borders to collect aid for Venezuelans suffering shortages.

Guaido repeated his vow that the supplies would enter "one way or another" -- even as Maduro stepped up efforts to block aid he claims is a pretext for a US invasion.


"Even though they point guns at us -- and all of us have received threats, rubber bullets and even live ones -- we are not afraid," Guaido said, standing on the back of a truck in a throng of supporters.

"We will stay out in the street with our chests bared, demanding freedom for all of Venezuela."

Shipments of food and medicine for the crisis-stricken population have become a key focus of the power struggle between Maduro and Guaido, the 35-year-old leader of the Venezuelan legislature backed as acting president by more than 50 countries.

Guaido considers Maduro illegitimate over his reelection last May in polls boycotted by the opposition after several of their leaders were prevented from standing -- either jailed, barred or in exile.

He wants to oust Maduro, set up a transitional government and hold new elections.

"This could be very soon, between six and nine months, once Maduro's current usurpation ends," Guaido told Mexican television station Televisa.

A million volunteers

Guaido, who says 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid, says he aims to rally a million volunteers to start bringing it in by Saturday.

Addressing supporters he listed the planned transit points of entry at the Brazilian and Colombian borders, the island of Curacao and the seaports of Puerto Cabello and La Guaira.

However the pro-Maduro military has already blocked the Tienditas bridge across the Colombian border, and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed the government was shutting down air and sea links between Curacao and Venezuela.

The military said in a decree that it was banning vessels from sailing out of Venezuela's ports until Sunday to avoid actions by "criminal" groups.

Amnesty International's Americas director Erika Guevara urged authorities to "not only recognize this serious crisis... but also to guarantee access" for those bringing in aid.

Underlining the swell of international support for Guaido, British entrepreneur Richard Branson plans to hold a pro-aid concert just inside Colombia on Friday, while Maduro's government stages a rival concert on its side of the border, around 1,000 feet (300 meters) away.

US officials say the aid will reach thousands of Venezuelans and last for a few weeks. Further details of how the opposition aims to distribute it were scarce.

Private bus driver Jose Figueroa, 60, said he planned to leave Caracas in the coming days in a convoy of some 30 vehicles.

Foreign 'aggression'

"The government is leading us to war. It will be very difficult. The situation is extremely tense," he said, as drivers parked their buses and pick-up trucks at a rally in central Caracas.

"But a bullet will kill you more quickly than hunger."

Wednesday's rally gathered just a couple of dozen buses and pick-up trucks in Guaido's support.

The pro-opposition drivers had planned to hold their rally at a major crossroads further west but found the avenue blocked by a far bigger demonstration.

Hundreds of state bus drivers rallied in the red shirts of the pro-government "Chavismo" movement, in a gathering convened by the authorities.

They yelled their loyalty to Maduro -- himself a former bus driver -- and the memory of his predecessor, the father of Venezuela's socialist "revolution," Hugo Chavez.

State-employed bus driver Julio Arocha, 53, admitted he was "negatively affected" by the crisis, "economically, psychologically", but was getting by thanks to state food handouts.

Catalyst for change

Like Maduro, Arocha blamed the crisis on foreign "aggression."

"The aggression is intensifying. The word 'humanitarian' is a euphemism," he said.

Despite sitting on the world's biggest oil reserves, Venezuela is gripped by an economic and humanitarian crisis, with acute shortages of food and medicine.

"Even if the February 23 deadline does not serve as a catalyst (for regime change), Maduro will likely pay a cost either way," wrote Eurasia Group analyst Risa Grais-Targow in a note this week.

"Barring the entrance of food and medicine into the country will prompt additional international condemnation and isolation, while it will also probably fuel opposition protests and deepen popular demand for change."

source: philstar.com

Ten days of turmoil in Venezuela

Here is a recap of developments.

- Call to revolt -

On January 21 a small group of soldiers takes control of a command post north of Caracas, releasing a video rejecting Maduro's regime and calling on people to take to the streets.

The rebellion is put down quickly and 27 soldiers are arrested, but there are demonstrations of support in Caracas.


Hours later the Supreme Court declares that the decisions of opposition-controlled National Assembly are invalid. The assembly had days earlier promised an amnesty to soldiers who abandoned Maduro.

- US backs opposition -


On January 22 US Vice President Mike Pence brands Maduro "a dictator with no legitimate claim to power" and tells the opposition, "We are with you."

Washington and other countries have dismissed as fraudulent the May 2018 election that gave Maduro a second term.

Maduro accuses Washington of ordering a coup.

- Self-proclaimed 'acting president' -

On January 23 tens of thousands of people protest in Caracas and other cities in rival demonstrations for and against Maduro. Clashes erupt.

In front of cheering supporters, National Assembly head Juan Guaido proclaims himself "acting president", pledging a transitional government and free elections.

US President Donald Trump immediately recognizes Guaido, followed by Brazil, Canada and Colombia, among around a dozen other countries.

However China, Cuba, Mexico, Russia and Turkey voice support for Maduro, who breaks off diplomatic ties with Washington.

On January 24 Venezuela's powerful military high command throws its weight behind Maduro.

- European ultimatum -

On January 26 several European powers say they will recognize Guaido as president unless Maduro calls elections within eight days. Caracas rejects the ultimatum.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urges all nations to end financial dealings with Maduro.

Venezuela's military attache to Washington, Army Colonel Jose Luis Silva, breaks ranks with Maduro, becoming the first major military officer to publicly switch support.

On January 27 Maduro calls on soldiers to show "union, discipline and cohesion".

Copies of amnesty measures drawn up by the Guaido-led assembly are circulated to members of the military, some of whom publicly burn the document.

- Guaido barred from leaving -

On January 28 the United States imposes sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, preventing it from trading with US firms and freezing its assets abroad.

On January 29 Washington says it has handed control of Venezuela's bank accounts in the United States to Guaido.

In Caracas, the supreme court bars Guaido from leaving Venezuela and freezes his accounts.

The opposition-controlled legislature names "diplomatic representatives" to a dozen countries that have recognized Guaido as interim president.

The UN says protests in the week after the soldiers' brief uprising had left more than 40 people dead and record numbers arrested.

- Opposition marches -

On January 30 Maduro says he would support early parliamentary elections but not presidential ones.

Thousands of opposition protesters, led by Guaido, call on the military to abandon Maduro and allow humanitarian aid into the country.

"The fight for freedom has begun!" Trump tweets.

Maduro again calls on the armed forces for unity.

- European Parliament backs Guaido -

On January 31 the European Parliament urges the EU to recognize Guaido, ahead of his presentation of an economic and social rescue plan for the battered country.

France and Spain demand the release of five foreign journalists detained in Venezuela as part of a crackdown on international media.

source: philstar.com

Venezuela, where a hamburger is officially $170

CARACAS - If a visitor to Venezuela is unfortunate enough to pay for anything with a foreign credit card, the eye-watering cost might suggest they were in a city pricier than Tokyo or Zurich.

A hamburger sold for 1,700 Venezuelan bolivares is $170, or a 69,000-bolivar hotel room is $6,900 a night, based on the official rate of 10 bolivares for $1.

But of course no merchant is pricing at the official rate imposed under currency controls. It's the black market rate of 1,000 bolivares per dollar that's applied.

But for Venezuelans paid in hyperinflation-hit bolivares, and living in an economy relying on mostly imported goods or raw materials, conditions are unthinkably expensive.

Even for the middle class, most of it sliding into poverty, hamburgers and hotels are out-of-reach excesses.

"Everybody is knocked low," Michael Leal, a 34-year-old manager of an eyewear store in Caracas, told AFP. "We can't breathe."

Shuttered stores

In Chacao, a middle-class neighborhood in the capital, office workers lined up outside a nut store to buy the cheapest lunch they could afford. Nearby restaurants were all but empty.

Superficially it looked like the center of any other major Latin American city: skyscrapers, dense traffic, pedestrians in short sleeves bustling along the sidewalks.

But look closely and you can see the economic malaise. Many stores, particularly those that sold electronics, were shuttered.

"It's horrible now," said Marta Gonzalez, the 69-year-old manager of a corner beauty products store.

"Nobody is buying anything really. Just food," she said as a male customer used a debit card to pay for  a couple of razor blades.

A sign above the register said "We don't accept credit cards."

Lines for necessities

An upmarket shopping center nearby boasted a leafy rooftop terrace, a spacious Hard Rock cafe, chain stores for Zara, Swarovski and Armani Exchange.

They were all virtually deserted except for bored sales staff.

Instead a line of around 200 people was waiting patiently in front of a pharmacy.

They didn't know what for, exactly, just that the routine now was to line up for daily deliveries of one subsidized personal hygiene product or another -- toothpaste, for instance -- and grab their rationed amount before it ran out, usually within a couple of minutes.

"We do this every week. And we don't know what we're trying to buy," said Kevin Jaimes, a 21-year-old auto parts salesman waiting with his family.

"What's frustrating is when you get into a gigantic line but they run out before you get any."

The alternative then is to turn to black market merchants who sell goods at grossly inflated rates, often 100 times more than the subsidized price tag.

Jaimes lives with his family of seven, and tries to get by on a monthly salary of 35,000 bolivares -- in reality, around $35.

That sum is too paltry for him to even think about dropping into the cinema upstairs in the center, where tickets are 8,800 bolivares.

If somehow he could, he'd find the same sort of entertainment being shown in American multiplexes: "The Jungle Book," "Captain America: Civil War," and "Angry Birds."

But motion pictures and popcorn, while maybe an enticing diversion, are luxuries Venezuelans these days can ill afford.

source: interaksyon.com

Venezuela's Edymar Martínez crowned Miss International 2015

MANILA, Philippines - Edymar Martínez of Venezuela was crowned Miss International 2015 held at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday.

"What I'm feeling is the best feeling ever," Martinez said. "Venezuela, we did it!"

Philippine bet Janicel Lubina made it to the top 10 but failed to enter the pageant's top five.

Rounding out the top five are:

First runner-up: Honduras
Second runner-up: Kenya
Third runner-up: Vietnam
Fourth runner-up: Miss USA

The top 10 candidates are: Brazil, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA, Venezuela and Vietnam.

While failing to make it to the top five, Lubina won the Miss Best Dresser special award.

Here is the list of special award winners:

Miss National Costume: Miss Japan
Miss Perfect Body: Miss Venezuela
Miss Best Dresser: Miss Philippines

Miss International Asia: Miss Korea
Miss International Europe: Portugal
Miss International America: Aruba
Miss International Africa: Kenya
Miss International Oceania: Hawaii

In a previous interview, the 20-year-old native of Narra, Palawan said she hopes to follow the footsteps of Bea Rose Santiago, the Filipina beauty queen who won the Miss International title in 2013.

Janicel failed to the join the ranks of fellow Binibining Pilipinas beauty queens Ann Colis, who won Miss Globe 2015 in Canada, and Parul Shah, who was named third runner-up in the Miss Grand International 2015 earlier this year.

source: philstar.com