Guaido hints at radical steps to topple Maduro as aid burns

Bloomberg

After days of preparation, the trucks rolled out. They bore beans, rice, sugar, salt and the possibility that Venezuela’s army would desert autocratic President Nicolas Maduro and the moribund nation might begin its revival.
Instead, there came violent action but little motion. Maduro avoided a bloodbath despite a massive border face-off between protesters and soldiers. His army didn’t desert him. While opposition leader Juan Guaido failed to start the flow of relief, he demonstrated vividly that the regime would attack its own citizens and spurn food even as people starve.
Guaido said he will formally urge the international community to consider “all options” to liberate the country. He made the decision after the day’s events, according to a post on his Twitter account.
At least four died in chaotic clashes and about 60 members of the armed forces defected along the borders of Colombia and Brazil, where food and medicine is stockpiled. But the day ended much as it began: Trucks of humanitarian aid donated by nations backing Guaido’s bid for power idled just outside the country and Maduro resumed taunting his rivals, crowing about victory back in Caracas.
“I am stronger than ever,” the socialist strongman said in an impassioned and expletive-laden speech that whipped die-hard supporters into a frenzy. “Standing, ruling our homeland, for now, and for many years.”
Opposition Regrouping
Guaido, who is head of the National Assembly, tried to bring in aid for humanitarian reasons, but also to show that military support for Maduro was crumbling. Now, with shipments repelled in a haze of tear gas and smoke, he must plan with his key allies — the US, Colombia and Brazil — how to pressure the regime anew. And having sneaked into Colombia hours before the attempted push across the border, Guaido faces the additional challenge of returning as Maduro threatens to imprison him for violating a travel ban.
“We saw today a man who doesn’t care about Venezuela, ordering to burn food for the hungry and medicine in front of the sick,” Guaido told reporters, adding that Maduro “has chosen the worst of paths, the path of crime and extermination.”
For Maduro, victory comes with great risk. US President Donald Trump and other leaders had insisted that Maduro must let the aid in, and his refusal is likely to bolster their resolve to topple his rickety government. America along with dozens of other nations have recognized Guaido’s claim that the constitution makes him acting president because Maduro stole his
re-election last year.
Guaido, whom the National Assembly has vested with executive powers based on the constitution, said he will participate in the Lima Group held in Bogota, Colombia on Monday, where he expects to meet with US Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the next diplomatic move.
“Venezuela’s military has a choice: Embrace democracy, protect civilians, and allow in humanitarian aid; or face even more sanctions and isolation,” National Security Adviser John Bolton wrote on Twitter.
Clashes on the Colombian border injured 285 people, mainly harmed by tear gas and “non conventional arms,” according to Carlos Trujillo, Colombia’s foreign affairs minister. Thirty-seven were hospitalized.