ASUNCION (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Paraguay on Friday to raise support for a change of government in his country, said that 600 members of the military had abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro in recent days.

Guaido, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, has invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s re-election last year was fraudulent. Guaido has since been recognised by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela.

However, Maduro still retains the loyalty of the bulk of Venezuela’s armed forces and controls state institutions.

“In the next few hours we will announce new protest marches,” Guaido said in Asuncion at a news conference, after meeting with Paraguayan leader Mario Abdo, who received the opposition figure as a head of state.

“We have spoken clearly to the Armed Forces of Venezuela. They have seen more than 600 officers in recent days switch to side with the constitution,” he added. “There is a very clear process of transition to democracy.”

His press team said he was scheduled to go to Argentina later on Friday to meet with President Mauricio Macri, a strong critic of Maduro. Argentina’s foreign ministry confirmed the two would meet in Buenos Aires and hold a news conference.

Guaido has been travelling around the region, seeking to drum up support. He has visited Brazil and Colombia this week, but said he would return to Caracas by Monday, where he faces possible arrest for disobeying a Supreme Court order that he should not leave the country pending an investigation.

The United States, which backs Guaido, will continue to take “appropriate actions” against the government of Maduro, including restricting travel visas for dozens of his associates, U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams said on Friday.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration, stepping up pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, on Friday slapped sanctions on six high-ranking Venezuelan security officials for obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid into their country.

The Treasury Department said the six, including officials with the National Guard and police, are allied with Maduro, who has closed Venezuela’s borders with Brazil and Colombia to prevent assistance from countries opposed to his continued rule from entering.

The sanctions block any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from conducting financial transactions with them. They are part of a campaign to pressure Maduro to step down and turn over power to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

“This action … targets six security officials who control many of the groups that prevented humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela, thereby exacerbating the humanitarian crisis that has left millions of Venezuelans starving and without access to medical care under the Maduro regime,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

It said the six control groups that fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, set some humanitarian aid trucks on fire and threatened to fire on a ship carrying assistance from Puerto Rico.

Those targeted are Richard Jesus Lopez, the commander of Venezuela’s National Guard; Jesus Maria Mantilla, the commander of Venezuela’s Strategic Integral Defense Region Guayana; Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez, the general in charge of Venezuela’s Integral Defense Zone in Bolivar State, which borders Brazil; Jose Leonardo Noronom, the general in charge of Venezuela’s Integral Defense Zone in Tachira State, which borders Colombia; Jose Miguel Dominguez, a national police commander in Tachira; and Cristhiam Abelardo Morales, another commander in Tachira.

The U.S. recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president last month. Maduro was re-elected last year in an election widely viewed as illegitimate, but the security services have largely remained loyal.

Guaido had announced that last weekend’s attempt to deliver U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid from Colombia into Venezuela would be politically decisive, but Maduro called the aid part of a scheme to overthrow his government.

Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals in fiery speeches reminiscent of the style of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.</s>US hits Venezuela officials with sanctions for blocking aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration, stepping up pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, on Friday slapped sanctions on six high-ranking Venezuelan security officials for obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid into their country.

The Treasury Department said the six, including officials with the National Guard and police, are allied with Maduro, who has closed Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia to prevent assistance from countries opposed to his continued rule from entering.

The sanctions block any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from conducting financial transactions with them. They are part of a campaign to pressure Maduro to step down and turn over power to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

"This action ... targets six security officials who control many of the groups that prevented humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela, thereby exacerbating the humanitarian crisis that has left millions of Venezuelans starving and without access to medical care under the Maduro regime," the Treasury Department said in a statement.

It said the six control groups that fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, set some humanitarian aid trucks on fire and threatened to fire on a ship carrying assistance from Puerto Rico.

Those targeted are Richard Jesus Lopez, the commander of Venezuela's National Guard; Jesus Maria Mantilla, the commander of Venezuela's Strategic Integral Defense Region Guayana; Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez, the general in charge of Venezuela's Integral Defense Zone in Bolivar State, which borders Brazil; Jose Leonardo Noronom, the general in charge of Venezuela's Integral Defense Zone in Tachira State, which borders Colombia; Jose Miguel Dominguez, a national police commander in Tachira; and Cristhiam Abelardo Morales, another commander in Tachira.

The U.S. recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president last month. Maduro was re-elected last year in an election widely viewed as illegitimate, but the security services have largely remained loyal.

Guaido had announced that last weekend's attempt to deliver U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid from Colombia into Venezuela would be politically decisive, but Maduro called the aid part of a scheme to overthrow his government.

Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals in fiery speeches reminiscent of the style of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.</s>More than 500 Venezuelan soldiers have fled President Nicolás Maduro's crumbling regime for neighboring Colombia, the Colombian migration authority reported Thursday.

The wave of desertions comes as opposition leader Juan Guaidó continues to seek support from the armed forces, which are one of the foundations of Maduro's authority.

Colombia has counted 567 defectors since violent clashes between security forces and activists trying to bring US aid to Venezuela, according to CNN and Colombia's El Tiempo.

Venezuelans are living through one of the world worst's economic crises under Maduro's socialist regime, and are struggling with shortages of food and medicine.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have called on Maduro to step down, saying that his presidency is unconstitutional and fraudulent. Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, has declared himself interim president, on the grounds that Maduro's reign is illegitimate.

Read more: Photos show chaos in Venezuela as protesters and soldiers clash over humanitarian aid shipments

Venezuelan migrants wait for free food being handed out by Colombian residents near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge in La Parada, on Colombia's side of its border with Venezuela, on February 24, 2019. Associated Press

Many saw Guaidó's attempt to transport aid over the Colombian-Venezuelan border at the weekend as a play to test the loyalty of Maduro's soldiers.

While the US, EU, Canada, and most of Latin America recognize Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president, he still needs the military's support to gain de facto control over Venezuela.

The Venezuelan armed forces are an important power base for Maduro. Military leaders in Venezuela publicly backed him last month.

Guaidó has claimed that he had met some members of the military in secret, implying that the military's solidarity with Maduro is not as solid as it may seem.

Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido in Caracas, Venezuela. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

The soldiers who left for Colombia are mostly from middle and lower ranks, who are more affected by the country's hyperinflation and shortages, according to The Associated Press.

They also work with faulty equipment and are monitored by intelligence services, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reported.

Amanda Lapo, a defense and military analyst at the IISS, said that it is not yet certain that increasing defections are a threat to Maduro.

"The defections don't appear to be on a senior enough level to undermine Maduro," she told Business Insider.

Venezuela's military, which employs between 95,000 and 150,000 active soldiers, has wide reach in the country. But the power is concentrated among high-ranking officials, who hold important government positions and control influential companies.

Many are also implicated in human rights abuses and drug trafficking, according to the AP. In other words, military leaders have a lot to lose if they defect.

Venezuelan officers also appear under pressure to support the Maduro regime. One defected soldier told Al Jazeera English that the government would "threaten us. If we weren't part of their political party, they'd lock us up."

Venezuelan police guard the Tienditas International Bridge in Venezuela on February 22, 2019. Associated Press

'Their loyalty is not unanimous anymore'

Lapo said, however, that the defection do show a split in the military.

"What they do reflect is that there is a division in the armed forces. Their loyalty is not unanimous anymore," she said told Business Insider.

"There is a growing gap between the middle and lower ranks who feel the effects of the crisis and the higher ranks which enjoy economic benefits."

Winning the military over has proved a daunting task for Guaidó. Despite saying in a New York Times op-ed that he had offered amnesty to any member of the armed forces who hadn't committed crimes against humanity, he has only garnered the support of one high-ranking officer.

Francisco Yanez, a general in the Venezuelan air force, announced via video that he had broken from Maduro and pledged allegiance to Guaidó via video last month. He also claimed that "90% of the armed forces are not with the dictator," referring to Maduro.

Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuela's defense minister, slammed the defectors and accused them of betraying their country.

He said in a video posted on Twitter: "It doesn't matter how many there are. Those who dishonor their uniforms can't call themselves soldiers."

Guaidó, meanwhile, said he wants to focus on galvanizing support from the military and state workers. He told reporters in Brazil that he will return to Venezuela this weekend, according to The Washington Post.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday on six high-ranking members of the Venezuelan security forces and revoked the visas of other officials and their relatives in the latest effort to pressure President Nicolas Maduro into leaving office.

The sanctions are in response to the blocking of humanitarian aid convoys last week while the visa revocations on dozens of individuals are intended to punish people who have flourished amid the South American country's dire economic crisis, Elliott Abrams, the special representative for Venezuela, told reporters.

"Maduro supporters that abuse or violate human rights, steal from the Venezuelan people or undermine Venezuela's democracy are not welcome in the United States," Abrams said. "Neither are their family members who enjoy a privileged lifestyle at the expense of the liberty and prosperity of millions of Venezuelans."

The measures were the latest by the Trump administration to increase the international pressure on Maduro, whose re-election last year is seen as illegitimate, to resign and turn power over to the opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by the U.S. and 50 other government as interim president.

The State Department later said that the U.S. had revoked the visas of 49 people, making them subject to deportation if they are in the country. It placed an unspecified number of others on a visa restriction list.

The U.S. already has travel bans on other high-ranking Venezuelan officials connected to Maduro who are accused of committing human rights abuses or corruption.

Separately, the Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on six officials from the National Guard and police who are allied with Maduro. These officials played a role in closing Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia to prevent the entry of assistance from countries opposed to Maduro's continued rule.

Maduro's forces fired tear gas and buckshot at activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid in violent clashes on Feb. 23, leaving two people dead and about 300 injured.

Friday's action targets six security officials "who control many of the groups that prevented humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela, thereby exacerbating the humanitarian crisis that has left millions of Venezuelans starving and without access to medical care under the Maduro regime," Treasury said in a statement.

The sanctions block any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from conducting financial transactions with them.

Those targeted are Richard Jesus Lopez, the commander of Venezuela's National Guard; Jesus Maria Mantilla, the commander of Venezuela's Strategic Integral Defense Region Guayana; Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez, the general in charge of Venezuela's Integral Defense Zone in Bolivar State, which borders Brazil; Jose Leonardo Noronom, the general in charge of Venezuela's Integral Defense Zone in Tachira State, which borders Colombia; Jose Miguel Dominguez, a national police commander in Tachira; and Cristhiam Abelardo Morales, another commander in Tachira.

The men are part of security forces that have remained loyal to Maduro and are essential to his hold on power in the once-prosperous country.

Guaido had announced that last weekend's attempt to deliver U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid from Colombia into Venezuela would be politically decisive, but Maduro called the aid part of a scheme to overthrow his government.

Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals in fiery speeches reminiscent of the style of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>ASUNCION (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Paraguay on Friday to raise support for a change of government in his country, said that 600 members of the military had abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro in recent days.

Guaido, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, has invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s re-election last year was fraudulent. Guaido has since been recognized by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela.

However, Maduro still retains the loyalty of the bulk of Venezuela’s armed forces and controls state institutions.

“In the next few hours we will announce new protest marches,” Guaido said in Asuncion at a news conference, after meeting with Paraguayan leader Mario Abdo, who received the opposition figure as a head of state.

“We have spoken clearly to the Armed Forces of Venezuela. They have seen more than 600 officers in recent days switch to side with the constitution,” he added. “There is a very clear process of transition to democracy.”

His press team said he was scheduled to go to Argentina later on Friday to meet with President Mauricio Macri, a strong critic of Maduro. In a speech earlier on Friday, Macri said his government was playing a regional role “to condemn human rights violations in Venezuela and recognize the president in charge, Juan Guaido.”

Argentina’s foreign ministry confirmed the two would meet in Buenos Aires and that Guaido would hold a news conference.

Guaido has been traveling around the region, seeking to drum up support. He has visited Brazil and Colombia this week, but said he would return to Caracas by Monday, where he faces possible arrest for disobeying a Supreme Court order that he should not leave the country pending an investigation.

The United States, which backs Guaido, has imposed fresh sanctions on six Venezuelan security officials and revoked the visas of dozens of associates and their families with ties to Maduro, it said on Friday.</s>(CNN Español) — Sigue en aumento la cifra de militares y policías venezolanos que han llegado a Colombia en busca de ayuda humanitaria, según datos de Migración Colombia.

Entre el 23 de febrero —día que empezaron los más recientes disturbios en los puentes fronterizos de Norte de Santander hacia Venezuela— hasta el 27 de este mes Migración ha recibido a 567 integrantes de las fuerzas militares de Venezuela.

La zona por donde más han cruzado es la regional oriental, que comprende el departamento de Norte de Santander. Por allí cruzaron 415 militares, según Migración.

Otros puntos por donde han llegado militares venezolanos a Colombia son por las regionales Orinoquía (46), Guajira (30); Caribe (23), Andina (30), Antioquia (14), Occidente (6) y Nariño (3). Estas son las regionales en las que Migración ha recibido la solicitud de los militares.

Entre tanto, el ministro de Defensa de Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino López, dijo este miércoles que más de 100 militares “han desertado” de las Fuerzas militares de Venezuela.

Padrino López se refirió a los 109 militares como “expulsados y degradados por instrucciones del presidente de la república”, en una entrevista con el canal Telesur.

A finales de enero, pocos días después de que el presidente de la Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela, Juan Guaidó se proclamara presidente interino del país, Padrino López dijo que los militares tenían lealtad a Maduro.

El gobierno del presidente Nicolás Maduro ha llamado a estos hombres que han dejado sus puestos “traidores terroristas”.

El director de Migración Colombia, Christian Krüger, dijo este martes que estas personas que llegan al país no deben ser considerados como “desertores”, “sino como migrantes que huyen de una dictadura en busca de comida, de salud y de tranquilidad”.

“Aunque algunas de estas personas han llegado a nuestro país con sus armas, sus uniformes, de civil o con su familia, todas tienen algo en común, llegan a Colombia con la esperanza de un futuro. Por eso, hemos venido articulándonos con el fin de poder brindar una asistencia a estas personas que han entendido que es el momento de darle paso a la libertad en Venezuela”, afirmó en un comunicado este miércoles Krüger.

Migración Colombia dice que pertenecen a la Policía Nacional Bolivariana, la Guardia Nacional, el Ejército, la Armada y hasta de las Fuerzas Especiales.</s>ASUNCION (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, visiting Paraguay on Friday to raise support for a change of government in his country, said that 600 members of the military had abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro in recent days.

Guaido, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, has invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s re-election last year was fraudulent. Guaido has since been recognized by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela.

However, Maduro still retains the loyalty of the bulk of Venezuela’s armed forces and controls state institutions.

“In the next few hours we will announce new protest marches,” Guaido said in Asuncion at a news conference, after meeting with Paraguayan leader Mario Abdo, who received the opposition figure as a head of state.

“We have spoken clearly to the Armed Forces of Venezuela. They have seen more than 600 officers in recent days switch to side with the constitution,” he added. “There is a very clear process of transition to democracy.”

His press team said he was scheduled to go to Argentina later on Friday to meet with President Mauricio Macri, a strong critic of Maduro. Argentina’s foreign ministry confirmed the two would meet in Buenos Aires and hold a news conference.

Guaido has been traveling around the region, seeking to drum up support. He has visited Brazil and Colombia this week, but said he would return to Caracas by Monday, where he faces possible arrest for disobeying a Supreme Court order that he should not leave the country pending an investigation.

The United States, which backs Guaido, will continue to take “appropriate actions” against the government of Maduro, including restricting travel visas for dozens of his associates, U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams said on Friday.</s>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday on six high-ranking members of the Venezuelan security forces and revoked the visas of other officials and their relatives in the latest effort to pressure President Nicolas Maduro into leaving office.

The sanctions are in response to the blocking of humanitarian aid convoys last week while the visa revocations on "numerous" individuals are intended to punish people who have flourished amid the South American country's dire economic crisis, Elliott Abrams, the special representative for Venezuela, told reporters.

"Maduro supporters that abuse or violate human rights, steal from the Venezuelan people or undermine Venezuela's democracy are not welcome in the United States," Abrams said. "Neither are their family members who enjoy a privileged lifestyle at the expense of the liberty and prosperity of millions of Venezuelans."

The measures were the latest by the Trump administration to increase the international pressure on Maduro, whose re-election last year is seen as illegitimate, to resign and turn power over to the opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by the U.S. and 50 other government as interim president.

Abrams declined to release the names, or even the number of people whose travel visas are being revoked, citing privacy regulations. He said the list included "dozens" of Venezuelans who could be subject to deportation if they are in the country.

The U.S. already has travel bans on other high-ranking Venezuelan officials connected to Maduro who are accused of committing human rights abuses or corruption.

Separately, the Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on six officials from the National Guard and police who are allied with Maduro and played a role in closing Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia to prevent assistance from countries opposed to his continued rule from entering.

Maduro's forces fired tear gas and buckshot on activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid in violent clashes on Feb. 23, leaving two people dead and about 300 injured.

Friday's action targets six security officials "who control many of the groups that prevented humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela, thereby exacerbating the humanitarian crisis that has left millions of Venezuelans starving and without access to medical care under the Maduro regime," Treasury said in a statement.

The sanctions block any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from conducting financial transactions with them.

Those targeted are Richard Jesus Lopez, the commander of Venezuela's National Guard; Jesus Maria Mantilla, the commander of Venezuela's Strategic Integral Defense Region Guayana; Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez, the general in charge of Venezuela's Integral Defense Zone in Bolivar State, which borders Brazil; Jose Leonardo Noronom, the general in charge of Venezuela's Integral Defense Zone in Tachira State, which borders Colombia; Jose Miguel Dominguez, a national police commander in Tachira; and Cristhiam Abelardo Morales, another commander in Tachira.

The men are part of security forces that have remained loyal to Maduro and are essential to his hold on power of the once-prosperous country.

Guaido had announced that last weekend's attempt to deliver U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid from Colombia into Venezuela would be politically decisive, but Maduro called the aid part of a scheme to overthrow his government.

Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals in fiery speeches reminiscent of the style of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez.</s>More than 500 Venezuelan soldiers have fled President Nicolás Maduro's crumbling regime for neighboring Colombia, the Colombian migration authority reported Thursday.

The wave of desertions comes as opposition leader Juan Guaidó continues to seek support from the armed forces, which are one of the foundations of Maduro's authority.

Colombia has counted 567 defectors since violent clashes between security forces and activists trying to bring US aid to Venezuela, according to CNN and Colombia's El Tiempo.

Venezuelans are living through one of the world worst's economic crises under Maduro's socialist regime, and are struggling with shortages of food and medicine.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have called on Maduro to step down, saying that his presidency is unconstitutional and fraudulent. Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, has declared himself interim president, on the grounds that Maduro's reign is illegitimate.

Read more: Photos show chaos in Venezuela as protesters and soldiers clash over humanitarian aid shipments

Venezuelan migrants wait for free food being handed out by Colombian residents near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge in La Parada, on Colombia's side of its border with Venezuela, on February 24, 2019. Associated Press

Many saw Guaidó's attempt to transport aid over the Colombian-Venezuelan border at the weekend as a play to test the loyalty of Maduro's soldiers.

While the US, EU, Canada, and most of Latin America recognize Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president, he still needs the military's support to gain de facto control over Venezuela.

The Venezuelan armed forces are an important power base for Maduro. Military leaders in Venezuela publicly backed him last month.

Guaidó has claimed that he had met some members of the military in secret, implying that the military's solidarity with Maduro is not as solid as it may seem.

The soldiers who left for Colombia are mostly from middle and lower ranks, who are more affected by the country's hyperinflation and shortages, according to The Associated Press.

They also work with faulty equipment and are monitored by intelligence services, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reported.

Amanda Lapo, a defense and military analyst at the IISS, said that it is not yet certain that increasing defections are a threat to Maduro.

"The defections don't appear to be on a senior enough level to undermine Maduro," she told Business Insider.

Venezuela's military, which employs between 95,000 and 150,000 active soldiers, has wide reach in the country. But the power is concentrated among high-ranking officials, who hold important government positions and control influential companies.

Many are also implicated in human rights abuses and drug trafficking, according to the AP. In other words, military leaders have a lot to lose if they defect.

Venezuelan officers also appear under pressure to support the Maduro regime. One defected soldier told Al Jazeera English that the government would "threaten us. If we weren't part of their political party, they'd lock us up."

Venezuelan police guard the Tienditas International Bridge in Venezuela on February 22, 2019. Associated Press

'Their loyalty is not unanimous anymore'

Lapo said, however, that the defection do show a split in the military.

"What they do reflect is that there is a division in the armed forces. Their loyalty is not unanimous anymore," she said told Business Insider.

"There is a growing gap between the middle and lower ranks who feel the effects of the crisis and the higher ranks which enjoy economic benefits."

Winning the military over has proved a daunting task for Guaidó. Despite saying in a New York Times op-ed that he had offered amnesty to any member of the armed forces who hadn't committed crimes against humanity, he has only garnered the support of one high-ranking officer.

Francisco Yanez, a general in the Venezuelan air force, announced via video that he had broken from Maduro and pledged allegiance to Guaidó via video last month. He also claimed that "90% of the armed forces are not with the dictator," referring to Maduro.

Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuela's defense minister, slammed the defectors and accused them of betraying their country.

He said in a video posted on Twitter: "It doesn't matter how many there are. Those who dishonor their uniforms can't call themselves soldiers."

Guaidó, meanwhile, said he wants to focus on galvanizing support from the military and state workers. He told reporters in Brazil that he will return to Venezuela this weekend, according to The Washington Post.
Colombia's Immigration Authority states that 567 Venezuelan soldiers have defected to Colombia from Nicolás Maduro's government since February 23, 2019. They were members of Venezuela's Armed Forces and Venezuela's National Police.