Venezuela: Guaido taking refuge in European embassy

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Anadolu Agency (Turkey)


Government official accuses opposition leader of being linked to failed raid by US ‘mercenaries’
Laura Gamba |
06.05.2020

BOGOTA, Colombia

Diosdado Cabello, the number two man in the Venezuelan government said opposition leader Juan Guaido is taking refuge in a European embassy to avoid arrest by the prosecutor's office.

"He has already chosen the embassy where he wants to go, it is European. He knows what I am talking about because he already sent some suitcases,” Cabello said during a television show late Tuesday. “What will those suitcases have?"

Guaido is accused by the Nicolas Maduro government of being linked to a failed raid Sunday and several attempts at a "coup d'état" in the last two years, for which he was called to testify before the prosecutor's office last March but did not appear.

The government said the raids Sunday that led to the capture of two American “mercenaries” were intended to assassinate Maduro.



Read more: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/venezuela-guaido-taking-refuge-in-european-embassy-/1831626

[The Magistrate]

1. He Might Be Wise To Do So, Ma'am

But he does not seem to have done it yet, by this account. Telegraphing intent by sending luggage ahead seems very foolish. Interception would be a simple matter for any security body loyal to Maduro's government.

[harumph]

3. I know I'm not the only one thinking this -

but judging from the boat & mercenaries they captured - the coup attempt was
weak tea. I'm not for or against a coup. Just sayin. Not even up to Bay of Pigs standards
anymore.

[The Magistrate]

4. True, Sir: A Farcical Effort

But people face firing squads for this sort of thing, or languish in jails in perpetuity. The Maduro regime has every right to take these people seriously, and treat the matter according to the pretensions of the persons involved.

[sandensea]

8. A trial balloon perhaps

My guess is that Cheeto might try something more Bush-like - in, say, October?

Wonder why?

[oldsoftie]

2. Guaido is the legal leader, not "opposition leader". Maduro holds office illegally.

And has been. ccording to the VZ Constitution, Guaido should be in office.
But he wont leave until he & his cronies have stolen every cent of the Venezuelan people

[The Magistrate]

5. Cheap Talk, Sir

Guaido's claim depends on his assertion Maduro's election in 2018 was illegitimate. Bare assertion an opponent's success is fraudulent carries little weight. A chorus of support from other opponents of Maduro establishes nothing. The Supreme Court of Venezuela disagrees with Guaido's claim to the Presidency, and that body is for better or worse the arbiter of Venezuela's constitution. Doubtless it is stacked with people who have supported Col. Chavez and support Maduro, but their ruling is the law, and will remain the law until Maduro's regime is overthrown.

[oldsoftie]

6. By all legitimate observations, the last election WAS illegitimate.

And yes, of course the court has been stacked with 13 Maduro friends. Their Constitution still plainly says what it says. I doubt we'd like it if the SCOTUS just decided that the 1st amendment was no longer valid. But until someone figures out how to rid the country of the cancer, it is what it is!

[The Magistrate]

7. And By Legitimate, Sir, You Mean Agreeable To Your View

No one involved in the matter is viewing it objectively, but through a partisan lens shaped by their own desires. What is evident is that if Guaido had a preponderance of support among the people of Venezuela he would occupy the presidential palace, and he does not. Whether either of us thinks this is a good thing or a bad thing is immaterial to the situation. It is in no way the business of the United States of America how Venezuela handles its own affairs. If Guaido has involvement with, or even knowledge of, this farcical incursion, he will have opened himself to serious repercussions. Or this may be taken as a pretext by Maduro's regime to move against him as if he had such. Whatever the intent of the people behind this nonesense, its outcome will benefit Maduro, not Guaido.