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On May 2nd, calm appeared to have returned to Venezuela, with large protests expected throughout the country on May 3rd.
US Proclaimed Interim President Juan Guaido also calls for the people to peacefully mobilize on May 4th and call on the military to “join the Constitution.”
Mañana 3 de mayo: Asambleas en todo el país para difundir estas líneas y convocar próximas movilizaciones
Sábado 4: movilización nacional en paz a las principales unidades militares para que se sumen a la constitución
Domingo 5: Vigilia y oración por los mártires y la Libertad
— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) May 3, 2019
May 5th was already declared a “Vigil and Prayer” for the martyrs and freedom.
Guaido released a “presidential decree” strongly condemning the deaths of urubith Rausseo, Josnel Peralta, Samuel Enrique Mendez and Yoifre Jesús Hernández Vásquez during the “peaceful rebellion,” that the opposition undertook.
Despite little success following the coup attempt on April 30th and the protests on May 1st, Guaido claims that “Operacion Libertad” is in its final phase and that toppling Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is closer than ever.
Venezuelan journalist and social rights activist Fabiana Rosales accused the Venezuelan Armed Forces of “assassinating” a 15-year-old boy who was observing a protest in the Pan-American Highway, Sta Elena de Arenales-Merida. Guaido also shared the claim.
On May 2nd, Guaido’s political mentor – Leopoldo Lopez said that he expects the country’s military will step up to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro despite setbacks.
López spoke with reporters at the gate of the Spanish ambassador’s home in Caracas, where he’s seeking refuge. He broke house arrest this week to join the failed coup attempt.
He said he had spent the last five years surrounded by jail guards and security forces posted at his home, giving him insight into their perspective.
The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) was ordered to arrest Lopez for violating his initial house arrest of 13 years, of which he has only served approximately five, to help carry out April 30th’s coup attempt of the Venezuelan government.
He further violated his original sentence by talking to the media on both April 30th and May 2nd.
The Caracas court is ordering Lopez to carry out the remainder of his sentence in the Ramo Verde National Military Center.
In response, Nicolas Maduro posted a video with military personnel chanting and celebrating.
El odio y la mentira no podrán jamás romper con la disciplina y el patriotismo de los soldados del Libertador Simón Bolívar. Contamos con una #FANB cada vez más socialista, bolivariana y profundamente chavista. pic.twitter.com/okYherh8xP
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) May 2, 2019
“Hatred and lying can never break with the discipline and patriotism of the soldiers of the Liberator Simón Bolívar. We have an #FANB increasingly socialist, Bolivarian and deeply Chavez.”
He further posted a photograph of him marching with soldiers, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez at his right side.
#2May Hoy iniciamos la Marcha por la Lealtad Militar a la Patria de Bolívar, una clara demostración de la fuerza moral y la integridad de nuestra gloriosa #FANB, que permanece en unión Cívico-Militar, siempre preparada para defender la Paz y la Soberanía nacional. pic.twitter.com/vN4Xx8cISK
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) May 2, 2019
“Today we begin the march for military loyalty to the homeland of Bolivar, a clear demonstration of the moral strength and integrity of our glorious #FANB, which remains in civic-military union, always prepared to defend peace and national sovereignty.”
US President Donald Trump said the “brutal repression” of the Venezuelan people must end, and it must end soon. He claimed that the Venezuelan people are starving and have no water.
US conduct towards Venezuela was called “surreal” by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 2nd.
Commenting on a phone call he had with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Lavrov said:
“Pompeo phoned, called for us to refuse to support Maduro, called for Cuba and us not to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela. The whole story sounds quite surreal. If you count up all that official representatives of the American administration say about Venezuela, then you can pose questions endlessly and to all these questions the answer will be, to put it diplomatically: it’s untrue,” he said.
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