BOGOTA, Colombia _ Venezuela on Wednesday was bracing for dueling demonstrations and fears of more violence as interim President Juan Guaido continues his push to oust leader Nicolas Maduro.
Guaido has called on his followers to take to the streets this May Day to continue what he calls "Operation Liberty."
The turnout will be a test for the opposition, coming a day after Guaido attempted to lead a military uprising that failed to have much of an impact.
On Wednesday, opposition Congressman Ismael Leon told VPI TV that the people will demand today "what should have happened yesterday _ for Maduro to leave the country."
Leon said that Maduro was supposed to board a plane at 5 a.m. Tuesday and abandon Venezuela "but he was countermanded by the Cubans."
"Maduro is negotiating his exit," Leon said, "and we will be on the streets until this regime leaves."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said that Maduro had an airplane on the tarmac waiting to take him to Havana early Tuesday but was talked out of it by the Russians.
In a national address late Tuesday, however, Maduro called those assertions more "lies" of the Donald Trump administration and vowed to hold onto power.
Venezuela's Observatory of Violence, a non profit, said one person died in Aragua state on Tuesday and more than 190 were injured as they clashed with military and police. In one instance, troops loyal to Maduro plowed their personnel carrier into a crowd of protesters in Caracas, crushing at least one person.
In his speech, Maduro said that many of the soldiers that sided with Guaido had been "tricked" into supporting him. He also said dissident soldiers had shot five of his loyal troops and that three were in critical condition.
Surrounded by his cabinet, Maduro accused Washington of trying to spark a "blood bath" to justify a foreign military intervention.
"What kind of mental instability do those people have?" he said of Trump's national security staff. "How much hate do those people have?"
Washington and more than 50 nations back Guaido, the 35-year-old head of congress, in his attempt to oust Maduro, install a transitional government and call for new elections. They claim Maduro has clung to power since 2013 through a series of increasingly fraudulent votes � most recently in May of 2018.
For his part, Maduro says he has the right to run the country _ staggering under hyperinflation and food and medicine shortages _ through 2025.
