Venezuela’s self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido called Sunday for two new protests, in an effort to push the military to turn against leader Nicolas Maduro and back a European ultimatum demanding free elections within the week. And Italy has called for “a rapid return to democratic legitimacy.”The United States separately warned there would be a “significant response” if US diplomats, Guaido or the opposition-controlled National Assembly were targeted with violence and intimidation. Supporters circulated copies of amnesty measures approved by the National Assembly to friends and relatives in the military, but some soldiers burned or ripped up the document. Venezuela’s military attache in Washington, Army Colonel Jose Luis Silva, switched his support to Guaido in a video that called on his brothers in arms to follow his lead. Washington also accepted exiled opposition leader Carlos Vecchio as Venezuela’s new charge d’affaires to the United States after he was tapped by Guaido.

Source: Egypt Independent January 28, 2019 08:37 UTC