Interim president Juan Guaido held a rally in Caracas today during he announced some details about “Operation Freedom”, which is a new set of protest actions aimed at mobilizing Venezuelans onto the streets of the country again. Guaido suggested that the ultimate goal of this new stage in the protest movement would be a march on the Miraflores Palace, but did not say when that would be.
During the rally, Guaido called on Venezuelans to protest on Saturday against the ongoing disruptions to the electrical system, which have left a majority of the country without electricity for several days this month.
On Operation Liberty, Guaido referenced previous attempts to march to different points in Caracas in protest that had been brought to an end by repression from state authorities.
For Operation Liberty to work, Guaido explained, protesters in Caracas would have to set off to their destination not from a handful of rally points, but from “20 or 30” different locations around the city. This, Guaido suggested, would spread the regime’s resources too thinly to stop every protesters from reaching their destination, as has been the case in previous protest marches.
Guaido also called on Venezuelans to participate in a rehearsal on April 6 for what would presumably be an eventual march on Miraflores.
OAS Calls for Maduro Gov’t To Allow Aid In
The Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution today calling for Maduro to allow humanitarian aid into the country. The resolution, which was brought to a vote by Colombia, was approved with 19 votes in favour and five against.
The resolution notes that the worsening socio-economic conditions in Venezuela have led to “unprecedented migration flows with regional implications”, and that the Maduro regime has previously blocked aid from entering the country.
The resolution calls “for humanitarian aid to be allowed to enter Venezuela”, and urges Venezuelans state authorities like the National Guard and the National Bolviarian Police from blocking future attempts to deliver aid into the country.
The resolution can be found here.
NYT: UN Calls on Regime, Opposition to Stop Politicizing Aid
The New York Times claims in an article published today that the United Nations delivered a statement to both Maduro and Guaido calling on them to “end the political battle over humanitarian aid”.
According to the New York Times, the document finds fault in the behaviour of both Maduro and Guaido over the matter of humanities aid, specifically that the issue is being politicized by both sides. The report allegedly states:
The politicization of humanitarian assistance in the context of the crisis makes delivery of assistance in accordance with the principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence more difficult.
Experts Raise Alarm Over Fate of Electrical Grid
El Nacional published an article today in which it cited a source “connected to the electrical industry” as saying that the blackout affecting most of the country is unlikely to fully recover from the two massive blackouts that shut it down this month, the most recent of which began on March 25 and is still ongoing.
According to the source, it is unlikely that the transformer fire that caused the March 25 blackout will be replaced in the short term, meaning that widespread disruptions to the country’s electrical systems are likely to continue. The source also said that “restoring electrical service completely is practically impossible.
While the Maduro government maintains that both the March 7 and March 25 blackouts are the work of its foreign and domestic enemies, experts in the country’s electrical system are in agreement that the blackouts were caused by years of mismanagement and corruption at the nation’s electrical authority leading to disrepair and a flight of human capital.
Trump to Russians in Venezuela: “Get Out”
U.S. President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter about the news that Russian soldiers had arrived in Venezuela over the weekend. Trump responded to the question tersely:
Russia has to get out.
Trump was in the Oval Office with Fabiana Rosales, Juan Guaido’s wife, who is visiting Washington. A video of Rosales’ visit with Trump can be found here.
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