Maduro spoke this afternoon at a rally against recent US sanctions on Conviasa, the state-owned commercial airline. During the rally, Maduro said that that the sanctions were part of a “criminal policy” by the United States against Venezuela, and that as a result he would take up the case to international tribunals. It is not clear exactly which tribunals Maduro had in mind.
The sanctions affect forty airplanes in the Conviasa fleet. While three of those airplanes are personally used by Maduro and other regime officials to travel around the world, as many as 37 others are part of the airline’s legitimate operations.
At the same event, ruling party vice president Diosdado Cabello said that the people most affected by the sanctions would be opposition leaders and their supporters, since “they’re the one who fly most often”. Cabello provided no evidence for his claim.
Cabello has personally flown on one of the Conviasa airplanes that service regime officials exclusively: YV3016, a luxury VIP jet that, on the surface, looks like a regular Conviasa commuter airliner. Cabello flew in YV3016 to North Korea during an official visit last year.
Guaido Announces Return to Venezuela
Opposition leader Juan Guaido announced today that he would return to Venezuela shortly after a weeks-long international tour that saw him meet with European leaders like Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron, as well as with Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau.
In the video, Guaido says that his return to Venezuela poses “risks”, and that he is willing to take them on in the name of once again fighting against the Maduro regime fro inside the country. He also says that during his meetings with world leaders, he became convinced that the opposition’s international allies are “willing to increase pressure” against the regime “as much as needed”.
Guaido also says in the video that while he will continue to play his role in the struggle against the regime, he needs ordinary Venezuelans around the country to play their role as well, saying that everyone is “a protagonist in the liberation of Venezuela.”
It is not clear exactly when Guaido will return to Venezuela, or which route he will chose to do so.
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