CARACAS, Venezuela _ Venezuela plunged into a new political crisis Tuesday as protesters took to the streets after opposition leader Juan Guaido issued new calls for the military to switch sides and join his U.S.-backed efforts to topple President Nicolas Maduro.
Various clashes between protesters and government security forces were taking place in Caracas, the capital, where gunshots were heard and tear gas drifted over parts of the city.
Police used water cannons and tear gas to try to disperse thousands of supporters of Guaido, the self-declared president, who from a freeway near the main Caracas air force base called on the nation's armed forces to abandon their support of Maduro.
Televised coverage of the protest, which Guaido dubbed "Operation Liberty," showed several uniformed military personnel wearing blue armbands taking part in the demonstration, which closed a principal Caracas freeway the day before nationwide May Day protests against Maduro were planned.
Standing atop a pickup truck in the Plaza Francia in the Altamira district, Guaido brandished a pair of megaphones and declared: "Today it is clear that the armed forces are with the people and not with the dictator!"
Guaido declared the "final phase" of the opposition's yearslong effort to topple Maduro, who has served as president since succeeding the late Hugo Chavez in 2013.
Venezuela has been wracked by years of political turmoil and economic chaos, and in January, Guaido, an opposition lawmaker, declared himself the interim president.
Government supporters denounced Guaido and his backers as "traitors" and vowed the government would not fall.
In Washington, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said key figures in Venezuela had told the opposition that Maduro had to go. He said those included Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez; Maikel Moreno, president of the country's supreme court; and Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala, commander of Maduro's Presidential Guard.
"It's still very important for key figures in the regime who have been talking to the opposition to make good on their commitments" to support Guaido, Bolton told reporters outside the White House.
There was no immediate reaction from Venezuelan officials. But earlier in the day, Padrino had gone on state TV on the Maduro government's behalf. He said a "very small group of soldiers and police officials" had seized government vehicles and arms in Caracas; he called it an attempted coup and said the soldiers had been "tricked."
"This violent attempt against the peace has been defeated," Padrino said.
Soon after Bolton's statement, U.S. special representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said that "as of 3 p.m." EDT, the senior officials Bolton spoke of had not lived up to their commitments to "restore constitutional order."
Asked if, by naming them, the U.S. was putting them in danger, Abrams replied that they would not be as long as constitutional order was restored. He said the negotiations between the officials and Guaido's representatives included retaining their positions. Abrams said the U.S. was not involved in the negotiations.
Geoff Ramsey, an expert on Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America, said he had doubts about just how close Padrino and the others were to flipping in Guaido's favor, noting that these are officials with deep ties in the Maduro government. Padrino, especially, has at least outwardly appeared entirely loyal to Maduro.
"I think this is a tactic (by the U.S. officials) to instill fear and division inside the regime," Ramsey said, adding that it would play on Maduro's paranoia, convincing him that his circle is "getting smaller by the minute."
In eastern Caracas, an opposition bastion, protesters were tossing rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces, who responded from armored vehicles with volleys of tear gas and blasts of water cannons.
Video from a protest site in the area showed an armored vehicle crashing into a crowd of protesters, who then appeared to attack the vehicle with a Molotov cocktail. There was no immediate word on casualties. Videos on Twitter also appeared to show protesters breaching a fence at the air force base.
In a Twitter message earlier in the day, Guaido said: "The moment is now! The 24 states of the nation have taken the path: a street with no return. The future is ours: People and the armed forces united for the end of the usurpation. Together we are invincible!"
Appearing alongside Guaido on Tuesday was his political patron, Leopoldo Lopez, who said he had been freed from house detention by pro-opposition military officials.
Lopez, founder of Venezuela's Popular Will party, of which the 35-year-old Guaido is a member, called on all Venezuelans to "take to the streets" against Maduro. Later, the Chilean government confirmed that Lopez, his wife and daughter were received as "guests" in the Chilean diplomatic mission in Caracas.
Maduro declared on Twitter that he had spoken with military leaders nationwide, who vowed their "total loyalty to the people" and to the constitution. "I call for maximum popular mobilization to assure the victory of peace," Maduro said. 'Venceremos!" he added, using a popular revolutionary chant meaning, "We will triumph!"
Heeding calls from Maduro, government supporters gathered near the Miraflores presidential compound in western Caracas.
Amid the fast-moving events, Maj. Gen. Jesus Rafael Suarez Chourio, Venezuela's army chief, issued a Twitter message declaring his "absolute loyalty" to Maduro, who is also the military commander in chief. "They cannot divide our people with deceit to comply with unpatriotic interests," the general tweeted. "North American imperialism will never vanquish us."
Guaido has previously urged the military to abandon Maduro, and more than 1,000 soldiers and national guard members had been reported seeking asylum in Colombia. But the effectiveness of this most recent call to abandon Maduro remains uncertain.
The Trump administration, Guaido's biggest backer, has levied numerous economic sanctions against Maduro, members of his government and inner circle, and crucial revenue sources like the oil and gold-exportation industries.
In Washington, Carlos Vecchio, whom Guaido appointed as his representative to the United States, told reporters: "This is the beginning of the end."
Vecchio called on Venezuelans to fill the streets and asked for the military to join "this inevitable process of change," and then addressed Maduro: "The time has come to leave power; it is time for your ambition to cease taking Venezuela to more suffering."
Colombian President Ivan Duque reiterated Guaido's call to the Venezuelan military to abandon Maduro. Meanwhile, Bolivian President Evo Morales expressed support for Maduro.
Duque has led several South American nations in their call for Maduro to step aside. Colombia has received an estimated 1.2 million Venezuelan immigrants in recent years, the biggest share among receiver nations of the 4 million Venezuelans who have fled their country since Maduro's predecessor Chavez took power in 1999.
