Venezuela's Border Goes Up in Flames: Portraits of a Chaotic Day
What was a symbolic moment to bring in aid devolved into mayhem.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido’s bid to drive humanitarian aid into crisis-ravaged Venezuela and bolster his bid to topple autocrat Nicolas Maduro turned into a chaotic and bloody mess Saturday. Maduro’s security forces clashed with Guaido supporters trying to truck the aid shipments into Venezuela from various points in Colombia and Brazil.
Soldiers fired tear gas and buckshot at the crowds, injuring dozens and forcing them to scramble to save aid packages after two trailers were torched. Across the border in Colombia, some of Guaido’s more aggressive backers set up barricades of burning tires and hijacked buses, setting one ablaze to use as battering rams against a line of troops blocking a bridge. There, pro-Maduro paramilitary gangs known as colectivos, fired pistols in the air in the afternoon, driving the Guaido backers away.
In the end, the aid did not cross. Maduro crowed victory back in Caracas and danced salsa in front of his die-hard supporters and Guaido, surrounded by key regional allies, vowed to continue his push to topple him.