What term do you want to search? Search with google</s>Venezuelan authorities say they are putting down a small coup attempt after opposition leader Juan Guaidó announced he was in the “final phase” of ending President Nicolás Maduro’s rule.

He appeared in a video with uniformed men, saying he had military support. Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January, called for more members of the military to help him end Maduro’s “usurpation” of power.

But military leaders appeared to be standing behind Maduro. Venezuela’s defence minister appeared on television to stress the point. However, photos from Caracas show some soldiers aligning themselves with Guaidó’s supporters.

Maduro’s detractors hope the military will change its allegiance as resentment grows following years of hyperinflation, power cuts, food and medicine shortages.

So far, they have stood by Maduro – despite dozens of countries, including the UK, the US and most of Latin America, recognising Mr Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful leader.

Protesters supporting both sides have gathered at different points in the capital, Caracas.

There are running clashes between Guaidó’s supporters and armed military vehicles. Protesters were also seen throwing rocks, but being repelled by tear gas and water cannon.

Television cameras also caught the moment armoured vehicles drove into a crowd but it is unclear if there were any injuries.

El Universal newspaper said that at least 37 people had been injured across Caracas.

 The BBC’s Guillermo Olmo, in Caracas, said Tuesday marked the most violent episode of the Venezuelan political crisis so far.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said the uprising by some members of the military had been “partly defeated”, but warned of possible bloodshed.

“The weapons of the republic are here to defend the nation’s sovereignty and independence,” he warned.

He also revealed one soldier had suffered a bullet wound.

A three-minute video by Guaidó was published in the early hours of Tuesday. In it, he announced he had the support of “brave soldiers” in Caracas. “The National Armed Forces have taken the correct decision… they are guaranteed to be on the right side of history,” he said.

He was filmed alongside another opposition leader, Leopoldo López, who has been under house arrest since being found guilty of inciting violence during anti-government protests in 2014.

López, who leads the Popular Will party of which Mr Guaidó is a member, said he had been freed by members of the military.

He went on to urge Venezuelans to join them: “All Venezuelans who want freedom should come here, disrupt order, join and encourage our soldiers, join our people.”</s>Tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where opposition leader Guaidó has appeared with soldiers

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where opposition leader Guaidó has appeared with soldiers.</s>Tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where opposition leader Guaidó has appeared with soldiers

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where opposition leader Guaidó has appeared with soldiers.</s>Venezuelan authorities say they are putting down a small coup attempt after opposition leader Juan Guaidó announced he was in the “final phase” of ending President Nicolás Maduro’s rule.

He appeared in a video with uniformed men, claiming he had military support.

Mr Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January, called for more members of the military to help him end Mr Maduro’s “usurpation” of power.

The military has so far supported Mr Maduro and refused to back Mr Guaidó.

However the opposition leader has backing from dozens of countries, including most of Latin America and the United States.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish government warned against “bloodshed” in Venezuela. “Spain is not supporting any military coup,” Isabel Celaa said, urging a “peaceful” outcome to the Venezuelan crisis.

Colombian President Iván Duque called on the Venezuelan army to back Mr Guaidó.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the US president had been briefed and “we are monitoring the ongoing situation”. US Senator Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Mr Guaidó, also took to Twitter to urge the military to give their backing to the National Assembly president.

In the video, Mr Guaidó says he has the support of “brave soldiers” in Caracas.

“People of Venezuela, let’s take to the streets (…) to support the end of the usurpation, which is irreversible. (…) The National Armed Forces have taken the correct decision, they have the support of the people of Venezuela, and the backing of our constitution, they are guaranteed to be on the right side of history,” he says.

The video, published on Mr Guaidó’s Twitter account, shows him standing next to another opposition leader, Leopoldo López, who has been under house arrest after he was found guilty of inciting violence during anti-government protests in 2014.

Mr López said that he had been freed by members of the military who had declared their loyalty to Mr Guaidó.

The Venezuelan information minister, Jorge Rodríguez, responded to the events on Twitter, writing that the government was confronting a small group of “military traitors” which according to him were promoting a coup.

Mr Guaidó, the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, has been calling on the military to back him ever since he declared himself interim president.

He argues that President Maduro is a “usurper” because he was re-elected in polls that have been widely disputed.

The video appeared to have been recorded at dawn in or near La Carlota air force base in the capital Caracas.

Footage recorded later by Reuters news agency shows Mr Guaidó and Mr López with dozens of uniformed men on a highway in Caracas.

Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionMr López (third from right) said he had been freed by security forces who back Mr Guaidó

Many are wearing blue armbands and bandannas to signal their support for Mr Guaidó. The footage shows teargas being fired at the them.

Mr López, who leads the Popular Will party of which Mr Guaidó is a member, urged Venezuelans to join them: “All Venezuelans who want freedom should come here, disrupt order, join and encourage our soldiers, join our people. Good morning Venezuela, let’s do this together.”

Footage showed supporters of Mr Guaidó throwing stones at the airbase while others waved Venezuelan flags but their actions seemed to lack co-ordination.

Events in Venezuela are uncertain and unclear but Mr Guaidó has seemingly gambled heavily in his latest bid for power.

The loyalty of the military to President Nicolás Maduro’s regime has been the central factor that has kept him in power. Barring a fundamental change in their allegiance or at the very least a significant split in their ranks, no amount of outside diplomatic pressure is going to push Mr Maduro from office.

So are we seeing this split now? Mr Guaidó and his supporters claim parts of the military across the country have backed him, but so far there is little evidence of this.

For Mr Guaidó the stakes are huge. The Venezuelan government says it is putting down a coup attempt. This is perhaps the most dramatic moment yet in Venezuela’s current political saga.

Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said that military bases were “operating normally” and that the armed forces were “standing firm in defence of the constitution and its legitimate authorities”.

In a later tweet, he wrote: “They’re cowards!!”

A senior member of the governing socialist party, Diosdado Cabello, called on supporters of President Maduro to take to the streets around the presidential palace to defend Mr Maduro from “the right-wing conspiracy”.

“Every one of their actions will have an overwhelming response” he said. “We will be radical in our defence of the Bolivarian revolution,” he said.</s>In his televised address Tuesday, Nicolas Maduro appeared to deny US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's claim that the Venezuelan President was planning to leave the country and head to Cuba but was convinced not to by Russia.

Pompeo said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that Maduro's plane was parked on the runway, and he was prepared depart to Cuba that morning before being talked out of it, by unnamed Russian officials.

The secretary of state said he could not reveal how the US obtained that information, but that Washington was talking to "scores and scores of people on the ground."

However, Pompeo's claim has been refuted by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who told CNN: "Washington tried its best to demoralize the Venezuelan army and now used fakes as a part of information war."

Maduro said Pompeo's claims were "craziness" and called them "lies and manipulation."

"Please, Mr. Pompeo, you’re not being serious," Maduro said.</s>CARACAS, Venezuela — Tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where opposition leader Guaidó has appeared with soldiers.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Popular

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On America's college campuses, there are epidemics we talk about and those we don't. When sexual assaults or fraternity hazing deaths make headlines, court cases follow and new rules are enacted, but less attention is paid to an underlying issue – binge drinking culture. CBSN Originals explores how drinking to excess is not only considered normal, but cool, and how for many young people "blacking out" is less a rarity than an every weekend occurrence – with grave consequences.</s>The first bloodshed was captured on camera at about midday, when an armoured vehicle belonging to Venezuelan security forces accelerated towards protesters scattering along a highway, bounced over the median – and then crumpled at least one person under its wheels.

Violence seemed inevitable on a day when Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaidó attempted to launch a military uprising and popular protests in the name of democracy and freedom, to topple the government of Nicolás Maduro.

The Venezuelan government has shot at protesters before, when dealing with less direct challenges to its authority.

But despite the looming threat, thousands answered Guaido’s call, joining a steady march down the long Avenue of Francisco Miranda that snakes through the capital, waving flags or wearing the national colours.

Francisco Betancourt and Elizabeth Saavedra said they had told their son that it would be dangerous in Caracas on Tuesday – but then explained why they wanted him to join the protests with them.

“We wanted him to be here so that he could tell his children he took part in changing Venezuela, the day that it was transformed from a nightmare to a dream,” Betancourt said. An hour later they were walking through the heart of Caracas, wearing red, yellow and blue.

Betancourt added: “We hope that in the next 48 hours, Venezuela can finally offer a better future for our son and his children. We know it will be difficult to create a different Venezuela, but it’s worth it.”

As the afternoon dragged on, masked protesters began battles with security forces, throwing stones and facing rubber bullets in response. At least one bus was set on fire.

Victor Zabala, 25, showed his back pockmarked with bruising and blood from the pellets. “We are the resistance in the streets,” he said, vowing to stay at the protests. “We are dying of hunger, our family members are leaving, they are dying.”

Despite the violence, and a shortage of transport – the metro was closed, and public buses appeared to have vanished from the streets – a large crowd gathered in the central Plaza Altamira to hear Guaidó address supporters.

The speech offered a moment of calm. Heavily armed defectors from the national guard stood on their cars, watching Guaidó as he promised non-violent change through “Operation Freedom”.

The country had woken to Guaido’s video calling for an uprising, filmed in the pre-dawn light, and flanked by his political mentor, Leopoldo López who had been sprung from house arrest.

By the time the sun had full risen, people in opposition strongholds were leaning out of their windows banging pans in a traditional cazerolazo protest as word spread of Guiadó’s last-ditch gamble on change.

There were fewer cars than usual on the streets, with schools and many businesses closed, but supporters headed towards the centre of town on foot and on motorbikes, in response to the summons.

Protests soon spread to other cities, and online opposition supporters cheered a video from eastern Puerto Ordaz, which showed an armoured vehicle turn and lumber away from the crowd.

In Caracas, hundreds of pro-government protesters also answered a call for support on the streets, after Maduro promised “nerves of steel”, and his second in command Diosdado Cabello insisted Guaido’s attempt to seize power would fail.

Hundreds gathered at the presidential palace in Caracas, some of them brandishing firearms, Reuters reported. “It’s time to defend the revolution with arms,” said Valentin Santana, the leader of one of Venezuela’s many armed pro-government gangs known as colectivos, in a video posted on social media as he brandished an automatic rifle.

Senior military officers were less visible but apparently equally supportive. There was no mass military defection, no commanders pledged support to Guaido, and no major installations came under opposition control.

The unfolding challenge to Maduro’s rule was also followed closely by many of the millions of Venezuelans who have fled their country as hyperinflation sped up, and food and medicine shortages deepened in recent years.

Just beyond the border, in Cúcuta, Colombia, scores of military defectors loyal to Guaidó gathered early at the Simón Bolívar bridge to support the uprising.

They were unarmed and chose not to wear uniforms “out of respect to Colombia”, but said they were “awaiting orders from our president Juan Guaidó,”. However hours later, with no word from Caracas, the group had largely dissipated.

A steady trickle of Venezuelan military defectors have arrived to the Colombian border city of Cúcuta since February 23, when Guaidó attempted to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela.

Colombian authorities estimate that up to 1000 of Venezuela’s security forces have now fled their posts, after the opposition urged them to and promised amnesty.

Many initially dreamed of crossing back into Venezuela as an army and assisting with overthrowing Maduro’s government, but instead found themselves waiting for a command that – so far – has still not come.</s>When Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó appeared outside one of the most important military installations in Caracas on Tuesday flanked by defecting soldiers toting assault rifles, many supporters hoped the game was finally up for Nicolás Maduro and his embattled regime.

“The time is now,” Guaidó announced in his dramatic pre-dawn declaration, calling on Venezuela’s armed forces to turn on their Chavista commander-in-chief.

But they did not.

Maduro remains in power and most of Venezuela’s military top brass has pledged loyalty to Hugo Chávez’s unpopular successor. And Guaidó’s attempt to spark a nationwide uprising appears to have flatlined – at least for now.

“Clearly this was a failure in the sense that this left the opposition weaker than they were before,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert from the Washington Office on Latin America advocacy group.

Benjamin Gedan, the national security council’s Venezuela adviser during the Obama presidency, said Guaidó had envisioned mass defections from Venezuela’s intelligence services and military. ”Neither occurred,” he admitted.

But nor was Guaidó’s movement out for the count.

Anti-Maduro protests continued, with thousands taking to the streets again on Wednesday. In a sign of possible weakness, Maduro had made no attempt to permanently “knee-cap” the opposition with repression; demonstrators had not been cowed and the opposition maintained significant international support.

“Dislodging a dictatorship that controls all the territory and monopolizes the use of force is difficult … But transitions often come unexpectedly and unexpectedly fast,” Gedan said, pointing to the recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria.

“I’m not going to predict that tomorrow the regime will fall. But I don’t see signals that Maduro is particularly confident in his hold on power,” Gedan added. “There is no evidence the government has a firm hold on the country … I’m not persuaded Maduro sleeps well at night.”

Vanessa Neumann, Guaidó’s envoy to the UK, denied the opposition had expected Maduro’s downfall would be immediate. “This is a slow boa constrictor action … We did not think it would be done and dusted within just a few hours.”

But many observers believe that is exactly what Guaidó had hoped for – and failed to achieve – when he took the streets at 4am on Tuesday with his political mentor Leopoldo López, who had escaped from house arrest.

Smilde said he believed Guaidó had hoped his address would spark “an avalanche” of defections that would quickly topple Maduro.

Guaidó did secure one big-name defection: the director of Venezuela’s feared intelligence services, Manuel Ricardo Cristopher Figuera, who announced his defection in a public letter excoriating the “rascals and rogues” looting Venezuela while its people starved.

But from the outset, when Guaidó appeared on camera with just a handful armed supporters, Smilde said he looked set for failure.

Now, Guaidó faced possible arrest and López had fled to the Spanish embassy. “That is probably the biggest blow, because he was the symbolic hero and martyr of this movement and for now it looks like he has sort of given up fighting from within Venezuela,” Smilde said.

Others offered a more positive prognosis of the opposition’s hopes.

Eric Farnsworth, a former US diplomat and the vice-president of the Council of the Americas, said he believed “furious discussions” were now underway with senior military leaders in an attempt to convince them to switch sides.

Farnsworth said Brazil – which developed closed ties with Venezuela’s military during the leftwing governments of Hugo Chávez and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – and Colombia could play a key role in brokering such talks.

“What the opposition really needs is somebody with command of troops – probably in a region outside of Caracas – who can say: ‘Enough, we are no longer following Maduro’s orders.”

On Wednesday, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, claimed Brazilian intelligence believed a fracture was now opening up near the top of Venezuela’s military. “It is possible the government will collapse because some of those at the top switch sides,” he told reporters.

“The regime did not fall yesterday,” Farnsworth said. “But I don’t think the final chapter has yet been written.”
Juan Guaidó, accompanied by members of the Venezuelan armed forces, speaks in front of La Carlota Air Base in Caracas, stating that Leopoldo López, a political prisoner since 2014, is freed by defecting soldiers who have renounced their loyalty to Nicolás Maduro, prompting people to take to the streets.