"The dictatorship could have killed me, it could have killed me today, without a doubt. " In a video posted on social networks, the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Saturday February 29 that he had been the target of gunfire during a demonstration against the regime of President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday in Barquisimeto, in the west of the country.
He attributed the attack to paramilitary groups in favor of the Venezuelan socialist president. "They fired, but that will not make us back down", continued the opponent, head of the country's National Assembly.
A photo released by his team showed a masked man standing near a motorcycle, brandishing a revolver in the direction of a group of people. Barquisimeto town hall and provincial authorities, controlled by President Maduro's regime, have not provided any information on the incident.
A movement that is losing momentum
On his Twitter account, the US embassy, which was closed more than a year after the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries, condemned "Acts of despair and violence" against the demonstration.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) team on the scene heard gunshots during the parade, which gathered around 2,000 supporters of Mr. Guaido. The latter dispersed during the shooting but regrouped again thereafter. Guaido said a 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg and is in stable condition.
Juan Guaido is currently trying to revitalize the protest movement against Nicolas Maduro, which he launched more than a year ago with the support of Washington. But in recent months, the opposition’s calls to demonstrate have received far less response than in early 2019, when tens of thousands of people mobilized each week.
