Opposition leader Juan Guaido vowed to take Nicolas Maduro’s place in the presidential palace “very soon” as thousands of protesters took to the streets of Caracas.
“We need an office to work in, so very soon, and when we have the armed forces totally on our side, we’ll go to find my office there,” Mr Guaido told supporters, who chanted back: “Yes, you can!”
Demonstrators banged pots and sounded car horns and many waved banners calling on President Maduro to go.
“With courage and strength I asked you to believe in yourselves, that Venezuela would emerge from the darkness, that the end of the usurpation is very close,” they were told by Mr Guaido, 35, who is recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries.
State prosecutor Tarek William Saab told reporters he would place Mr Guaido under investigation for “his alleged involvement in the sabotage of the Venezuelan electric grid.”
Mr Maduro has blamed a five-day nationwide blackout, reportedly easing today, on an “electricity war” started by the US. Mr Guaido blamed government mismanagement.
