CARACAS: Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido warned the army of its responsibilities on Wednesday after soldiers blocked a key border bridge, sparking angry demands from the United States to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the country.
Venezuela’s army had to choose between “a dictatorship that does not have an iota of humanity, or to side with the constitution” from which he takes his legitimacy, Guaido said in an interview on Colombian radio.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Venezuela’s military was deliberately blocking the aid with trucks and shipping containers “under Maduro’s orders.”
“The Maduro regime must LET THE AID REACH THE STARVING PEOPLE,” Pompeo said in a tweet.
Guaido claims that up to 300,000 people face death if the aid is not delivered, following years of economic crisis and shortages of basic food and medicines.
Tanker trucks and shipping containers were moved into position late Tuesday on the Tienditas bridge, a key crossing point on the border with Colombia.
The 35-year-old National Assembly chief — who stunned Venezuelans when he proclaimed himself president on January 23 — is trying to force Maduro from power, set up a transitional government and hold a new presidential polls.
He has claimed legitimacy from the constitution as National Assembly leader, on the grounds that Maduro’s re-election last May, boycotted by most of the opposition, was “illegitimate.”
Venezuela’s powerful military — which despite a few defections has remained loyal to Maduro — is seen as key to the outcome of the socialist leader’s power struggle with his young rival.
In a bid to tip the balance, the US said it was prepared to exempt Caracas’ army top brass from punitive sanctions if they recognized Guaido.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton said Washington “will consider sanctions off-ramps for any Venezuelan senior military officer that stands for democracy and recognizes the constitutional government of President Juan Guaido.”
“If not, the international financial circle will be closed off completely,” Bolton said on Twitter, urging the officers to “make the right choice.”
Guaido has been recognized by more than 40 countries since declaring himself interim president on January 23.
However, several countries including Italy and Greece have so far blocked an EU bid for tougher action against Maduro’s socialist regime.
Guaido held talks with EU representatives in Caracas earlier Wednesday “to consolidate their support for the democratic transition” adding that he would send a delegation to holdout state Italy to present his “action plan to relaunch democracy.”
Maduro disclosed Monday that he sent Pope Francis a letter seeking help in mediating the country’s crisis. The pope told journalists Tuesday that this would require agreement from both the government and the opposition.
Guaido backed the idea on Wednesday, saying the Argentine pope could bring his “great moral authority” to bear on Maduro to convince him to leave power.
Maduro, who is supported by Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba and Iran, has refused all humanitarian aid shipments to Venezuela, which he says would open the way to allow a US military invasion.
Maduro dismissed the need for aid on Wednesday as a “political show.”
“Imperialism does not help anyone in the world,” he told Russia Today.
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was doubling its resources to cope with the crisis, where food and medicine shortages have pushed 2.3 million people to flee since 2015.
Maduro, 56, has repeatedly accused the United States of fomenting a coup. And on Wednesday he called for the collection of 10 million signatures against what he called “Trump’s interventionist action.”
The US, which has not ruled out a military intervention in crisis-wracked Venezuela, was the first to recognize his rival as acting president, followed by a dozen Latin American countries.
Latin American and EU states have formed a “Contact Group” on Venezuela which will meet in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo on Thursday.
Russia has slammed what it called interference in the oil-rich but now poor Latin American country, saying it was an attempt to “legitimize usurped power.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the EU of trying to “topple the government by violence and ruse.”
Guaido has nevertheless ramped up pressure on the regime with a series of mass protests, the next of which is scheduled for February 12.
His fledgling alternative administration will hold talks in Washington on February 14 on responding to “the largest hemispheric humanitarian crisis in modern history.”
Venezuelan army moves to block aid shipments, sparking US anger
Venezuelan army moves to block aid shipments, sparking US anger
- Mike Pompeo said Venezuela’s military was deliberately blocking the aid with trucks and shipping containers “under Maduro’s orders”
- Maduro, 56, has repeatedly accused the United States of fomenting a coup
London police using withdrawn powers to clamp down on pro-Palestine rallies: Probe
- ‘Cumulative disruption’ cited to ban, reroute rallies but power granted by concept withdrawn by Court of Appeal in May
- Network for Police Monitoring: This demonstrates ‘ongoing crackdown on protest’ that has reached ‘alarming point’
LONDON: London’s Metropolitan Police have used powers that have been withdrawn to clamp down on pro-Palestine rallies in the capital, legal experts have said.
The Guardian and Liberty Investigates obtained evidence that police officers had imposed restrictions on at least two protests based on the principle of “cumulative disruption.” But that power was withdrawn by the Court of Appeal in May, according to legal experts.
All references to cumulative disruption have been removed from relevant legislation, yet the Home Office and the Met continue to insist that police officers retain the power to consider the concept when suppressing protests.
On May 7, five days after the powers were withdrawn, the Met banned a Jewish pro-Palestine group from holding its weekly rally in north London, citing the cumulative impact on the neighborhood’s Jewish community.
Last month, the Met forced the Palestine Coalition to change the route of its rally on three days’ notice, highlighting the cumulative impact on businesses during Black Friday weekend.
Raj Chada, a partner at Hodge, Jones & Allen and a leading criminal lawyer, said: “There is no reference to cumulative disruption in the original (legislation). The regulations that introduced this concept were quashed in May 2025, so I fail to see how this can still be the approach taken by police. There is no legal basis for this whatsoever.”
The Met appeared “not to care” if it was acting within the law, the Network for Police Monitoring said, adding that the revelation surrounding “cumulative disruption” demonstrated an “ongoing crackdown on protest” that had reached an “alarming point” by police in London.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in October to reintroduce the power to consider cumulative impact in toughened form.
But Nick Glynn, a retired senior officer from Leicestershire Police, said: “The police have too many protest powers already and they definitely don’t need any more. If they are provided with them, they not only use them (but) as in this case, they stretch them.
“They go beyond what was intended. The right to protest is sacrosanct and more stifling of protest makes democracy worth less.”
Cumulative disruption was regularly considered and employed in regulations if protests met the threshold of causing “serious disruption to the life of the community.”
The Court of Appeal withdrew the power following a legal challenge by human rights group Liberty.
Ben Jamal, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s director, was reportedly told by Alison Heydari, the Met’s deputy assistant commissioner, that her decision on imposing protest regulations “will be purely around the cumulative effect of your protests.”
She reportedly added that “this is not just about Saturday’s protest but it’s a combination of all the impacts of all the processions so far,” referencing “serious disruption” to the business community.
“You’ve used this route in November 2024, and you’ve used it a few times before then as well. So, there is an impact.”
The repeated disruption to PSC-hosted marches, the largest pro-Palestine events in London, was a “demobilizer,” Jamal said.
It also caused confusion about march starting points and led to protesters being harassed by police officers who accused them of violating protest conditions, he added.
A Met spokesperson told The Guardian: “The outcome of the judicial review does not prevent senior officers from considering the cumulative impact of protest on the life of communities.
“To determine the extent of disruption that may result from a particular protest, it is, of course, important to consider the circumstances in which that protest is to be held, including any existing disruption an affected community is already experiencing.
“We recognise the importance of the right to protest. We also recognise our responsibility to use our powers to ensure that protest does not result in serious disorder or serious disruption. We use those powers lawfully and will continue to do so.”
