The opposition leader faces the risk of arrest at a pivotal moment in the political crisis.
By Mary Beth Sheridan and Mary Beth Sheridan Correspondent covering Mexico and Central America Email Bio Follow Mariana Zuñiga March 3 at 3:25 PM CARACAS, Venezuela — Opposition leader Juan Guaidó called for nationwide demonstrations on Monday as he returns to Venezuela, in what could be a pivotal moment for the U.S.-backed campaign to oust authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro has said that Guaidó will “face justice” if he returns, noting that he defied a court order barring him from leaving the South American country. Guaidó has not said exactly when or where he will reenter Venezuela. He has been on a tour of Latin American nations and was in Ecuador on Sunday. David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University, said Maduro might not realize the potential consequences of detaining Guaidó.
On Sunday, John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser, said that if Maduro detained the opposition leader, “it would just hasten the day that he leaves.” President Trump has said that the United States was maintaining “all options” to deal with the Venezuela crisis — even military action — but his aides have downplayed that possibility. Bolton, speaking in an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” said that Washington wants “a peaceful transition of power.
But Maribel Urbina, 50, a cashier at a stand producing arepas — Venezuelan cornmeal cakes — said she had become fearful after being tear-gassed during protests in 2017. “I’m not going” to the Monday demonstration, she said. “I’m a coward.”
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