Juan Guaido held a rally in Caracas this afternoon in Caracas, as tens of thousands of Venezuelans turned out to outdoor political demonstrations called cabildos abiertos elsewhere throughout the country. Guaido’s rally took place in the Chacao municipality of Caracas. There, he spoke to supporters about the ongoing struggle against the Maduro regime, and gave out details about the next steps that the opposition plans to take.
Arguably Guaido’s most significant announcement came in the form of a convocation to another march, with this one taking place on May 1. Guaido announced the march by saying:
We call on all of the people to the biggest march in the history of Venezuela, [this one] to demand an end to the usurpation and an end to this tragedy.
Guaido refers to Maduro as “the usurper”, given his argument that he stole the 2018 presidential election and has therefore usurped the role of President of the Republic.
On the May 1 march, Guaido told supporters that he wanted to see people from each corner of Caracas take part.
While Guaido did not clearly say it, he suggested that the destination for the May 1 march would be the Miraflores Palace. Guaido said:
The objective of the protest will be the place where we [can] demand the definitive end of the usurpation.
Because the Miraflores Palace is the seat of presidential power, opposition marches have historically avoided it. This is because any march on the Miraflores Palace would likely be interpreted by the president as being a direct challenge on his authority.
The last time that the opposition marched en masse to the Miraflores Palace was on April 11, 2002, a move which resulted in a coup d’etat attempt against Hugo Chavez.
Below, images and videos from the event in Caracas:
Netblocks, an organization that monitors state interference with internet traffic, reported that YouTube was knocked offline in Venezuela during Guaido’s speech, which was streamed live on that service:
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