Head of Venezuela's secret police breaks with Maduro
The head of Venezuela's feared secret police has turned his back on disputed President Nicolas Maduro in an open letter made public Tuesday night. Meanwhile,
Maduro took to Venezuela's airwaves to proclaim that the uprising
sparked by opposition leader Juan Guaidó had been defeated. In a
rambling address, Maduro said his regime had responded to the rebellion
with "nerves of steel, maximum serenity and effective action" and
claimed that the leaders of the uprising were under arrest and being
questioned. "This cannot go unpunished," said Maduro, who added that "all of those involved must surrender." Manuel
Ricardo Cristopher Figuera, the head of the Bolivarian Intelligence
Service (SEBIN), is the highest-ranking member of the country's security
forces to break with Maduro since Guaidó called for a military uprising
Tuesday morning. In the letter, the authenticity of which was
confirmed to The Associated Press by a U.S. official, Figuera wrote that
while he always had been loyal to Maduro, "the time has come to seek
new ways of doing politics" to try and "rebuild the country." The letter
did not mention Guaidó by name but did say that Venezuela has
experienced a damaging decline. Earlier Tuesday, National Security
Adviser John Bolton said the Trump administration was waiting for three
key officials -- Maduro's defense minister, the chief judge of the
supreme court and the commander of Maduro's presidential guard -- to act
on what he said were private pledges to remove the beleaguered
Venezuelan leader. "All agreed that Maduro had to go. They need to
be able to act this afternoon, or this evening, to help bring other
military forces to the side of the interim president," Bolton said. "If
this effort fails, [Venezuela] will sink into a dictatorship from which
there are very few possible alternatives." The defense
minister, Vladimir Padrino López, publicly condemned Guaidó's move
Tuesday as a "terrorist" act and "coup attempt" that was bound to fail. "Those
who try to take Miraflores with violence will be met with violence," he
said on national television, referring to the presidential palace where
hundreds of government supporters, some of them brandishing firearms,
had gathered in response to a call to defend Maduro.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, center, is greeted by a supporter in Caracas Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Guaidó has said that in the coming hours he would release a list of top commanders supporting the uprising. "The
armed forces have taken the right decision," said Guaidó. "With the
support of the Venezuelan people and the backing of our constitution
they are on the right side of history." Anti-government
demonstrators gathered in several other cities, although there were no
reports that Guaidó's supporters had taken control of any military
installations. The
SIBE was responsible for holding Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuela's most
prominent anti-Maduro activist, in custody since his arrest in 2014.
Lopez appeared alongside Guaidó, his political protege, Tuesday and
claimed that he had been released from house arrest by security forces
adhering to an order from Guaidó. It was not immediately clear what role, if any, Figuera had played in Lopez's release. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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