Latin America

Venezuela’s self-declared interim president Juan Guaido said on Sunday that he was taking off from a naval base in Ecuador, a day after calling for protests to coincide with his return to his homeland. Guaido thanked Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno and the country’s armed forces in the tweet announcing his departure.

Russia vowed on Friday to continue providing assistance to Venezuela as it supports the South American country’s beleaguered president, Nicolas Maduro, who is deeply indebted to the land of Vladimir Putin. Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, sanctioned by Western powers, is moving its European headquarters from Lisbon to Moscow, Rodriguez said.

Alejandro Andrade, the former Venezuelan national treasurer and close friend of the late President Hugo Chavez, has surrendered to U.S. prison authorities to start a 10-year sentence for his key role in a 1-billion-dollar money-laundering racket extending from Venezuela to South Florida.

“A group of unidentified armed men forced Telemundo correspondent Daniel Garrido into a vehicle and covered his head with a hood,” said the international media. “After questioning him for six hours and seizing his equipment, the kidnappers freed him without explanation and without returning his equipment.”

A total of 326 members of the Venezuelan security forces have deserted to Colombia since Saturday, said Colombia’s immigration authority on Tuesday. Interim president Juan Guaido has promised amnesty to officers and troops of the armed forces that abandon the repressive forces carrying out Maduro’s attempt to block humanitarian aid from reaching the country.

“The transfer of US special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of US forces in Colombia and other facts clearly indicate that the Pentagon is reinforcing the grouping of troops in the region for the purpose of ousting the legally elected current president, Maduro,” said Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, on Tuesday.

Ten Latin American countries and Canada on Monday rejected the use of force to solve the Venezuelan crisis, while Washington said that “all options” remained on the table. Venezuelans need to conduct a democratic transition “peacefully and within the framework of the constitution and international law,” the Lima Group of American countries said in a joint declaration after meeting in Bogota.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Sunday condemned the “excessive use of force” by Venezuelan security forces after deadly clashes erupted on the borders with Colombia and Brazil. “These are disgraceful scenes. The Venezuelan government must stop its forces from using excessive force against unarmed protesters and ordinary citizens.”