Trouble Erupts Almost Immediately as Venezuelans Mobilize to Break Blockade
Thousands of people attended a protest concert on the Colombian side of the Las Tienditas border bridge, which connects Colombia to Venezuela, on Friday.CreditMeridith Kohut for The New York Times
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Thousands of people attended a protest concert on the Colombian side of the Las Tienditas border bridge, which connects Colombia to Venezuela, on Friday.CreditCreditMeridith Kohut for The New York Times
By
Nicholas Casey, Albinson Linares and Anatoly Kurmanaev
CÚCUTA, Colombia — Waving banners and chanting antigovernment slogans, Venezuela’s opposition managed to puncture President Nicolás Maduro’s humanitarian aid blockade on Saturday, sending least one truck across from Brazil.
But violence also erupted at the border with Colombia, underscoring the risks Mr. Maduro’s adversaries are taking in their campaign against him.
A pickup truck of aid crossed into Venezuela from the northern Brazilian town of Pacairama, in what opposition figures said was a small but symbolic puncture of Mr. Maduro’s pledge to keep unauthorized assistance out.
“We did it,” said María Teresa Belandria, who is the Brazil envoy of the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó. “This is a major victory.”
[See live updates on the tensions in Venezuela as the standoff over aid continues.]
Mr. Guaidó, the 35-year-old leader of the opposition who claims to be
Venezuela’s rightful leader, said from the Colombian side of the border that he hoped the Venezuelan security forces would stand aside and allow the aid in.
“Anyone who is not on the side of the people and who prevents the entry of humanitarian aid is a deserter who betrays our people,” Mr. Guaidó
said in a Twitter post. “Those who accompany us to save the lives of Venezuelans are true patriots.”
Trouble Erupts Almost Immediately as Venezuelans Mobilize to Break Blockade
things are getting worse by the sounds of it