Clashes erupted between protesters and members of the Venezuelan National Guard at the Colombia-Venezuela border on February 24, local media said. The Venezuelan government had ordered the closure of the border to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid, El Nuevo Herald reported. At least two people were killed and dozens wounded in border clashes on February 23, Colombian media reported. Footage here was captured by local reporter Gabriela Gonzalez and shows protesters on a bridge at the border between the towns of Ureña, Venezuela, and Cúcuta, Colombia, on February 24. Debris and a damaged vehicle are seen. Credit: Gabriela Gonzalez via Storyful </s> Venezuelan authorities have blockaded a second bridge to Colombia amid fresh skirmishes between protesters and security forces loyal to embattled leader Nicolás Maduro.

The move came as opposition leader Juan Guaidó travelled to Brazil to shore up international pressure on Maduro following an inconclusive meeting of regional leaders in Colombia earlier this week.

Early on Wednesday, two shipping containers were positioned across the Simón Bolívar bridge, a major pedestrian crossing between the two countries, following days of sporadic violence.

The bridge was the focus of a failed weekend attempt to bring US food aid into the country as part of opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s campaign campaign to force Maduro from power.

Dozens were injured on Saturday as anti-government protestors clashed with Venezuela’s national guard and pro-Maduro gangs at the bridge and another crossing near near the Colombian city Cúcuta. In circumstances that remain unclear, at least two trucks carrying the aid caught fire during the violence.

Footage broadcast on Colombian television on Wednesday showed a burned-out truck bed in front of the shipping containers, which had been positioned overnight across the Simón Bolívar bridge.

Last month, Venezuelan authorities barricaded the nearby Tienditas bridge with two containers and an oil truck. That bridge was finished in 2016 but never inaugurated.

The Colombian border has been closed to most vehicles since 2015 following a string of disputes between the two countries, and on Saturday Maduro closed all Venezuela’s borders.

Colombia closed four crossings from its side on Saturday evening, reopening them on Monday afternoon.

Saturday’s aid effort was intended to weaken Maduro by triggering a flood of military defections. That did not happen, but Colombian migration authorities reported that around 250 military officials have crossed the border, joining a steady stream of Venezuelan refugees leaving the country via unpoliced routes.

After Saturday’s violence, Guaidó – who has been recognized as Venezuela’s rightful president by the US and fifty other countries – travelled to Bogotá and met with the US vice-president Mike Pence and Latin American leaders.

Guaidó, who was officially barred from travel, was set to arrive in Brazil late on Wednesday for a meeting with the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, an outspoken opponent of Maduro.

Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, will travel to Moscow for talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday. Russia has been among Maduro’s staunchest allies during the crisis.

Meanwhile, unrest continued near Venezuela’s eastern border with Brazil after violence that left at least three people dead and dozens injured over the weekend.

On Tuesday morning, soldiers took control of an airport in the town of Santa Elena de Uairén, which was the focus of clashes between Venezuelan soldiers and indigenous protesters.

Witnesses say they were attempting to travel to Maurak, where members of the Pémon indigenous community had captured 30 soldiers on Saturday. </s> This story was originally published in Spanish by Rolling Stone Colombia‘s editors. Read the original Spanish version here.

Update 2/23/18: The moment of music had long passed, and now it was nearing 7 a.m. on Saturday and the Colombian authorities were preparing to pass humanitarian aid to Venezuela. The night before, however, Delcy Rodríguez, vice president of Venezuela, announwced the closure of the Simón Bolívar, Unión and Santander bridges for “the serious and illegal threats attempted by the Government of Colombia against La Paz.”

By 8 a.m., members of the Bolivarian National Guard had already deserted, but Venezuelan soldiers, who prevented their passage to their country, guarded the same border. In Ureña, one of the municipalities closest to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, there were protests and clashes between citizens — who demanded the passage of humanitarian aid — and the military that was preventing it.

Colombia’s president, Iván Duque, handed aid over to Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s opposition leader, at a press conference, and Guaidó said: “We ask the Venezuelan military to stand on the right side and receive their brothers who are taking help to serve the people of Venezuela.” The tractors that loaded all the supplies arrived at the Simón Bolívar bridge, where hundreds of volunteers were preparing to pass humanitarian aid through a human chain.

During a demonstration in Caracas, Nicolás Maduro announced that he was breaking political and diplomatic relations with Colombia, giving all diplomatic personnel 24 hours to leave Venezuela. As the hours wore on, there were reports that at least 23 members of the Venezuelan military and police defected at the borders. Convoys of trucks carrying food aid and medical supplies set off for Venezuela from border towns in Colombia and Brazil. Volunteers, protestors and opposition leaders were met with teargas and rubber bullets, and at least three aid trucks near the Colombian border were burned.

CÚCUTA, COLOMBIA 2/22/18 — Friday’s Venezuela Aid Live, according to its website (where people can still donate), sought to bring humanitarian aid that’s in Colombia across the border to reach the most-affected Venezuelans, raise awareness of the situation in Venezuela and raise funds for a social development plan with which expatriates could return to their country.

Reymar Perdomo opened the concert with “Me Fui,” a song that has become a hymn for Venezuelan expatriates with a video that went viral in Latin America. Perdomo is Venezuelan and has been living in Lima, Peru, playing and singing in buses.

After the performance, Richard Branson, founder of Virgin and organizer of the festival, gave a speech in which he thanked the attendees for being in Cúcuta to celebrate the lives of all Venezuelans. “If we can take people into space, why is it so difficult to get people out of poverty?” he said. People chanted: “Richard, Richard, Richard!” To speed up the change of artists on the stage, there was a revolving platform: As the musicians were playing on one side, the instruments of the next were mounted.

Jose Luis Rodriguez, “El Puma,” came out and started with a very clear message. “Thanks to dear Colombia and the United States,” he said, adding, “Enough of left-wing dictatorships in Latin America!” Already the political game was installed from the beginning. He sang “Agárrense las manos/Hold Your Hands” with an instrumental track and no band.

Reinaldo Armas, Cholo Valderrama and Jorge Glem arrived to dance at the tip of llanera music. Then came Jencarlos Canela with his success “Bajito,” while improvising phrases that invited people to donate, and Danny Ocean, wearing a T-shirt that depicted Mandela eating arepa, started dancing with “Dembow” and “Me rehúso/I refuse.”

Later in the afternoon, the most anticipated names came out. Paulina Rubio brought her pop and Diego Torres sang, as would be expected, “Color Esperanza/Color of Hope.” Silvestre Dangond started the party again and Maluma, accompanied only on guitar, followed in the midst of shouts from fans.

Miguel Bosé, who was at the border 11 years ago for the Concert for Peace that Juanes organized, filled the Tienditas Bridge with emotion and tears. Then, Carlos Baute landed with “Te regalo” and, obviously, “Yo me quedo en Venezuela (I Stay in Venezuela).” Luis Fonsi finished with “Despacito” and then Juan Luis Guerra showed all his experience with “I hope it rains coffee.” Fonseca sang “Te Mando Flores/I Sent You Flowers” and gave way to Carlos Vives.

While there was a party on one side — with attendees singing on the border between Venezuela and Brazil at the Tienditas Bridge — in the state of Bolívar, two indigenous people died at the hands of the Bolivarian National Guard, according to the NGO Kapé Kapé. According Semana magazine, they were trying to keep a road open to allow the entry of humanitarian aid when special forces broke in. In addition to the two deceased, there were also 15 injured.

After 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the Venezuelan concert finally began. Composed mainly of Venezuelan artists related to the government of Maduro — such as Paul Gillman, who sang “Resistiré,” while waving the flag of his country, and Skaracas — it was also known that Grupo Niche refused to play in the “Hands Off Venezuela” concert.

Looking primarily at the music presentations, Venezuela Aid Live left much to be desired due to technical problems, instrument issues, the many instrumental tracks used and the crowd area being far from the stage. Sure, people enjoyed it, and the real goal was beyond the shows. If Branson wanted to put the eyes of the world on the border, he succeeded.

The news agencies were reporting live from Cúcuta, with journalists from all over Latin America in attendance, along with the United States, Canada, Portugal and Spain and other countries. The speeches by several of the artists against Maduro sent a clear message that would surely annoy Roger Waters. Tomorrow it will be seen if humanitarian aid finally crosses the border. </s> The political crisis in Venezuela skyrocketed on Saturday as a series of swift developments saw the situation turn ugly on the ground. A 26-year-old person has reportedly died and several others have been injured in clashes between armed forces and civilians at the Venezuela-Columbia, local media reports. Venezuela has been subjected to weeks of wrangling between socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro and challenger, Juan Guaido, over who is the country's president. Mr Guaido declared himself interim president in January and has since received the backing of the United States and numerous European nations - but Mr Maduro is refusing to budge.

The South American nation is in crisis following years of hyperinflation. Mass food and medicines shortages have already led three million people to flee abroad. In the latest developments, Mr Guaido promised his supporters humanitarian aid would be delivered on Saturday, which Mr Maduro said would be refused. What is the latest news in Venezuela? The situation has deteriorated rapidly in the last few hours as Venezuelan troops fired tear gas at protestors trying to cross into Columbia. The border was closed by Mr Maduro to stop US humanitarian aid trucks coming in.

Local television reports showed a truck from Colombia going up in flames sending large smoke plumes skywards, as reported by Reuters. The footage followed an earlier security video showing Venezuelan military using tear gas against volunteers unloading aid on the Francisco de Paula bridge near the border. The video was sent by a Colombian government source near the town of Urena who said rubber bullets had also been fired. The Venezuelan military has remained loyal to Mr Maduo but had not deployed violence against people at crowd gatherings until now.

Many of the civilians said they had just been waiting for food and medicines to finally reach them when the situation turned nasty. Sobeida Monsalve, 42, said: “I’m a homemaker, and I'm here fighting for my family, for my children and parents, resisting the military's tear gas and soldiers on motorbikes.” Saturday’s escalating crisis also saw Mr Maduro formally cut ties with Colombia as he expelled diplomatic staff from the Colombian embassy. Mr Maduro said: “Patience is exhausted. I can't bear it anymore, we can't keep putting up with Colombian territory being used for attacks against Venezuela.

"For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia's fascist government." Earlier on in the day in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta, Juan Guaidó called for the Venezuelan military to abandon their support of Mr Maduro. He said: "I've made a clear call to the armed forces. "Welcome to the right side of history. Welcome to those soldiers that today have moved to the right side of the constitution. Welcome. "There is a clear sign today that the amnesty and guarantees are there for all those soldiers who are willing to take in and help the Venezuelan people and, above all, to respect our constitution." </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Venezuelan soldiers send people back as they try to cross the border from Brazil

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has closed the border with Brazil amid a row over humanitarian aid.

The embattled leader said he could also shut the key border with Colombia to stop the opposition bringing in relief.

Venezuela's inflation rate has seen prices soar, leaving many Venezuelans struggling to afford basic items such as food, toiletries and medicine.

President Maduro denies any crisis and calls the aid delivery plans a US-orchestrated show.

His ally Russia has accused the US of trying to arm Venezuela's opposition.

Rival concerts will be held on both sides of a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia later on Friday.

On the Colombian side, an event will be held to raise money for Venezuela. At the same time, Mr Maduro's government will hold its own concert, just 300m (980ft) away.

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó and his allies hope to collect food and medicine being gathered in neighbouring Brazil and Colombia on Saturday, in defiance of President Maduro.

Head of the National Assembly, Mr Guaidó declared himself interim leader during anti-government protests last month and is recognised by dozens of countries, including the US and most Latin American nations.

Brazil border: Aid showdown

The border crossing with Brazil remained closed on Friday morning but local G1 website reported that a group of Venezuelans managed to cross from the Brazilian city of Pacaraima on foot using an unofficial route.

Mr Maduro announced on Thursday that the border would be closed "completely and absolutely" until further notice and said he had been considering a "total closure" of the border with Colombia.

Brazil had earlier said that, in co-ordination with the US, food and medicine would be available to be collected by "the government of acting President Juan Guaidó in Venezuelan trucks driven by Venezuelans".

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Colombia border: Battle of the bands

British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has organised a concert near the Tienditas Bridge crossing at Cúcuta hoping to raise about $100m (£77m) to buy food and medicine for Venezuelans.

Venezuela Aid Live, he said, has been organised at the request of Mr Guaidó and another opposition leader, Leopoldo López, who is under house arrest. About 250,000 people are expected to attend.

The Venezuelan government has erected a stage on its side of the crossing for its Hands Off Venezuela event.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Branson concert is on the Colombian side of Tienditas Bridge...

Image copyright AFP Image caption ... and a Venezuelan government stage has gone up not far away

More than three million Venezuelans have fled in recent years as the country grapples with hyperinflation and shortages of essential goods, the UN says.

Despite denying there is any humanitarian crisis, Mr Maduro announced this week that 300 tonnes of aid would be shipped from its ally Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attempt to deliver aid could spark violence and be used as a pretext by the US to remove Mr Maduro.

Citing unspecified information, she also accused the US and its Nato allies of discussing how to arm the Venezuelan opposition and claimed US special forces and equipment were being deployed near the country.

Genuine help or Trojan horse?

By Katy Watson, BBC South America correspondent in Caracas

There is no doubt this has become a political issue. Juan Guaidó and his supporters want to spread the word about how important the foreign humanitarian aid is. President Maduro accuses it of being a Trojan horse.

There is a feeling of optimism among many Venezuelans at the moment - an energy that has not existed in the country for a long time. And the hope that Saturday may be the start of a new path.

But if the stand-off drags on, the fear is that this positive energy that has revived Mr Maduro's critics will wane, as will the interest of the international community, and that's what Mr Guaidó needs to achieve regime change.

People want to know about a plan B - if indeed Mr Guaidó has thought of one. Otherwise, the hope here will soon turn to despair.

Guaidó heads to Cúcuta

Mr Guaidó is leading a convoy that left the capital, Caracas, on Thursday, to Cúcuta, some 800km (500 miles) away.

He has said 600,000 volunteers have already signed up to help carry aid into Venezuela while the Venezuelan government said it would deliver 20,600 of its own food boxes to the Colombian border area.

Venezuela's military has so far resisted calls to abandon Mr Maduro, in power since 2013.

However, former military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal called on the military to break with the president and to allow aid in. In a video posted online, the congressman recognised Mr Guaidó as "president in charge" and issued a stinging rebuke to Mr Maduro.

"You've killed hundreds of young people in the streets for trying to claim the rights you stole - this without even counting the dead for lack of medicines and security."

Mr Guaidó's aides in Washington said 11 Venezuelan diplomats based in the US had defected and declared their support for him. </s> Venezuela Aid Live is a concert set to take place on February 22nd, 2019 in the Colombian city of Cúcuta. The purpose of this concert is to bring international attention to the lack of food, medical attention, and overall wellbeing that the people of Venezuela have been suffering for the past several years. Alejandro Sanz, Miguel Bosé, Maluma, Lele Pons, Juanes, Carlos Vives, and many other music icons are will be performing.

Take a look at the video below to learn more about the situation and discover some of the arists who will be performing. </s> In brief: Using drones for illegal activities is nothing new, but this weekend may have seen UAVs used in an attempted crime on a whole different level. Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, said he survived an alleged assassination attempt when drones carrying explosives detonated near him as he gave a speech.

We’ve heard reports of commercial UAVs helping to deliver drugs to prisoners, survey potential robbery locations, spy on people, and even disrupt an FBI hostage raid, but this could be the first time they’ve been used in an assassination attempt on a country’s leader.

Maduro was speaking at a military event in Caracas on August 4 when the apparent attack took place. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said one of the explosives went off near the president, though he was unhurt. Seven National Guard soldiers are reported to have been injured.

The event was being shown live on national television. The audio was cut off at the time of the explosion, followed by footage of soldiers running away. Images on social media show Maduro being protected by black bulletproof panels.

Maduro has often been criticized for policies that undermine democracy and violate human rights. Falling oil prices have pushed Venezuela into the middle of an economic crisis, and the President’s recent re-election brought claims of fraudulent polling. Rodriguez claimed Venezuela's right-wing opposition was behind the attack. "After losing the vote, they failed again," he said.

Maduro, however, said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was responsible, a claim the Colombian government has called “absurd.” He also alleged that elements within the US were part of "a right-wing plot" to kill him.

Maduro said initial investigations indicated that “several of those intellectually responsible and the financiers of this attack live in the United States, in the state of Florida.” He called on Donald Trump to fight these “terrorist groups.”

A group called Soldiers in T-shirts used social media to claim responsibility for the drone attack, though it has offered no evidence. It claims the UAVs were shot down before reaching Maduro.

If this really was a drone attack—some authorities claim it was a gas tank explosion—it could mark the start of a practice where non-military UAVs are used in assassination attempts on high-profile targets. </s> Venezuelan lawmaker Freddy Superlano, a member of the opposition party, is in serious but stable condition after being poisoned in Colombia, his party says. His cousin has passed away.

Voluntad Popular, the party of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, said late on Saturday that Superlano was poisoned at a restaurant in Cúcuta, a city near the border with Venezuela. His assistant and cousin, Carlos Salinas, died.

Superlano and Salinas were said to have been poisoned with Burundanga, which is also known as hyoscine or scopolamine. The drug is used to treat motion sickness and other conditions, but it has also been used in robberies and sexual assaults, leading to the nickname “Devil’s Breath.”

It was not immediately known who may have been responsible for the poisoning. “We wait for the results of the investigation by the Colombian authorities to establish the facts,” the party said in a brief statement.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a supporter of Guaido, said Superlano was poisoned while having breakfast on Saturday morning and called it a “grave situation.” A spokesperson for Superlano said the lawmaker is in serious but stable condition.

Photo of Carlos Salinas: </s> Volunteers make a human chain to prepare for the arrival of aid at the foot of the Simón Bolívar International Bridge near Cúcuta, Colombia, on Feb. 23, 2019.

It started with smiling faces waving white roses and strangers linking arms with one another on Saturday. Then, thousands of supporters of Juan Guaidó, Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim president, climbed aboard flatbeds loaded with bags of rice, bandages and wheelchairs for their compatriots in need. Others swarmed the cabs. The engines started. With blazing sunlight beating down on them, they headed for the border.

This is the scene of the Venezuelan opposition’s challenge to strongman, and current President, Nicolas Maduro’s legitimacy. In a sticky, humid valley speckled with palm trees and dusty yellow roads, thousands of Venezuelans prepared to join caravans hauling tons of aid destined for their counterparts on the other side of the Venezuela-Colombia border.

“The idea is to talk to them first,” said 33-year-old Elio Herrera from the Tienditas bridge outside of Cúcuta, Colombia, home to the opposition’s main headquarters and where the aid was stored in warehouses. The Tienditas bridge is one of the bridges where the opposition hoped to ferry aid, but didn’t try because of the blockade. “We hope they won’t impede. The military over there is suffering just as much as all of Venezuela. If they do block us, then they’re basically complicit in a murder.”

The chance to talk seems to have passed. After arriving at the border crossings, this U.S.-backed effort to deliver tons of aid to relieve Venezuelans reeling from a political and economic crisis quickly devolved into violent clashes along the outskirts of Cúcuta, on Venezuela’s western border. At least 86 people were reported injured, according to Colombia’s National Disaster Unit. Two others were reported dead in a separate clash on the Venezuela-Brazil border.

At the border, aid caravans pressed through crowds along narrow two-lane bridges. But their momentum was halted when the Venezuelan army blocked the pass and fired canisters of tear gas into the trucks’ path. Protesters gathered and swarmed, clogging the crossings.

Atop one of the flatbeds, 29-year-old Neyerson Cisneros from Caracas insisted he would wait out the regime’s resistance for as long as it takes to get the aid in. “Depends,” he told TIME. “Four? Five? Six days? We’ll stay here until the aid gets in.”

“We’re tired of this Maduro staying in power,” said 27-year-old Yesica, an aid activist from Barquisimeto, as her fellow marcher piled rocks into the remains of a beat-up suitcase. He then dragged his load toward the center of Simon Bolivar bridge, another site of an attempted aid crossing, where others slung bricks and buried their faces in rags to fend off tear gas canisters returned by Venezuelan security forces.

Relentlessly the activists fought as the aid sat under canvas tarps and shouting buried the idling truck engines.

“We don’t want any more dictatorship,” said 35-year-old William Leal from Tachira state in Venezuela. “We don’t have anything. We’re dying from hunger.”

“They blocked us off,” 24-year-old Yondri from Caracas said about the aid impasse as he squinted through a homemade blue balaclava. “But we’ll keep fighting. We’re not going to give up that easily.”

Guaidó said on Saturday: “We’re not going to rest. We’re keeping all our cards on the table.”

Both sides seemed to dig in for what could be a prolonged confrontation. And yet fighting was never the plan.

Opposition leader Guaidó broke a travel ban Friday evening and crossed into Colombia. There, he joined Colombian President Iván Duque and Chilean President Sebastian Piñera to rally anti-Maduro supporters, in what he hoped would be a peaceful delivery of aid to opposition members on the other side of the border. He called for the military backing Maduro to rebel against the installed President’s orders, something he and other opposition leaders have appealed for in recent weeks.

“It’s clearly a loyalty test where the opposition, with the help of the United States, is throwing everything they’ve got, hoping Maduro will fall,” says Geoff Ramsey, assistant director of the Venezuela program at the Washington Office of Latin America.

Guaidó’s hope was that Venezuelan security forces guarding the border checkpoints would defect en masse once the aid trucks arrived at the border. Although some military figures did defect on Saturday, the strategy of triggering widespread defections seems to have been stymied.

“Their thrust is to turn more military figures. But the military who are truly positioned to remove Maduro seem to be staying with him,” added Ramsey.

Over 3 million have fled their homes since 2014 to escape Maduro’s Venezuela, where the right to dissent is illegal and its economy is plagued by obscene hyperinflation. A minimum wage monthly salary fails to buy even a bottle of breastmilk formula.

Elected in 2013, Maduro insists the crisis is manufactured, economic warfare authored by the United States. He points to U.S. sanctions on his loyalists and the state oil company as evidence.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders point to a slow disintegration of democratic institutions starting with Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s charismatic predecessor. Chávez was elected to office in 1998 and promoted a socialist project he hoped would spread throughout the continent. Although extreme poverty and infant mortality fell during his term, Chávez’s unbridled spending on social programs and mismanagement of the country’s currency set the stage for instability. In 2014, one year after Chávez’s death, Venezuela’s oil-based economy collapsed when the price of crude oil bottomed out.

That collapse is what Guaidó is trying to leverage against Maduro. In January, as the leader of Venezuela’s parliament, Guaidó invoked authority embedded in the country’s constitution and declared himself interim President. His touted goal is to lead a transition where Maduro would step down from power and hold free and fair elections.

Saturday’s clashes were reminiscent of earlier protests between anti-Maduro opposition and pro-government Chavistas. In 2017, clashes left 165 dead and the affair deepened hostilities on both sides, when neither would accept responsibility for the deaths.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump declared the “twilight of socialism” and urged Venezuelan military to abandon Maduro or “lose everything.” Maduro fired rebukes that the aid operation is a “show” and calls the caravans a trojan horse loaded with “contaminated” food. More, he defended his belief that Guaidó’s support for the aid is part of a U.S. conspiracy to invade Venezuela.

Trump and his advisors have hinted that a military option is on the table. “The problem is that (military involvement) could very easily lead to conflict,” says Ramsey.

“People like to point to Panamá or Granada,” he says, referring to swift and short-lived U.S. military interventions in the Western hemisphere. “But this could turn into Libya or Iraq.”

A clash on Saturday between pro-opposition aid backers and the Venezuelan National Guard on Ureña bridge, north of Cúcuta caused aid to burn. Black smoke billowed into the blue sky. The number of injured rose from the confrontations and opposition leaders called their aid trucks back to the warehouses. International humanitarian organizations like the UNHCR and Oxfam condemned Venezuelan opposition leaders for politicizing the aid effort.

Some pro-opposition marchers want to get more political. They think military intervention is the way to go.

“We feel like France in the second World War when they were waiting for the Allies to come,” said Carlos Molina Tamayo, a former Venezuelan admiral living in exile after participating in a failed attempt to remove Chavez from power in 2002.

TIME asked the former admiral what would happen if the aid doesn’t get allowed in.

“The next step is international intervention with military force to protect the humanitarian aid,” he says, his graying hair waving in the strong breeze on Tienditas bridge this afternoon.

“It’s going to be like rock n’ roll.”
An explosive device is detonated in a commercial center in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, with at least 12 injured.