Caracas: Venezuelans heeded opposition leader Juan Guaidó's call to fill streets around the nation Wednesday but security forces showed no sign of backing his cry for a widespread military uprising, instead dispersing crowds with tear gas as the political crisis threatened to deepen.
Thousands cheered Guaidó in Caracas as he rolled up his sleeves and called on Venezuelans to remain out in force and prepare for a general strike, a day after his bold attempt to spark a mass military defection by forces loyal to President Nicolás Maduro failed to tilt the balance of power.
Guaidó said that ousting Maduro was "just around the corner".
"As long as we maintain the pressure in the streets, while we remain active and strong in the streets, and it is not going to stop," he said to a cheering crowd.
In Caracas state security forces launched tear gas and fired rubber bullets, while bands of mostly young men armed with makeshift shields threw rocks and tanks ran over motorcycles parked by the side of the road.
Meanwhile, the number of demonstrators injured in the latest political upheaval continued to rise.
Mayor Gustavo Duque of Chacao, a neighbourhood of Caracas, said the Salud Chacao medical center took in 27 patients Wednesday by late afternoon. Duque said about half of the injured were hit by buckshot. Several patients reportedly sustained traumatic wounds. One person was shot in the foot with a firearm.
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The dramatic events could spell even more uncertainty for Venezuela, which has been rocked by three months of political upheaval after Guaidó re-energized a flagging opposition movement by declaring himself interim president, saying Maduro had usurped power.
