Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed on Saturday bringing forward parliamentary elections to this year, as he seeks to crush the threat posed by the National Assembly’s head, Juan Guaido, who has proclaimed himself legitimate head-of-state
Maduro, in a speech to supporters, said the all-powerful government-controlled Constituent Assembly would debate calling earlier elections for the National Assembly, which he denounced as “bourgeois.”
The parliamentary elections had been scheduled for 2020.
General backs Guaido
Earlier on Saturday, A high-ranking Venezuelan air force general says he has disavowed Maduro and now recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim head-of-state, according to a video circulating on Twitter on Saturday.
In the video, Gen. Francisco Yanez, a member of the air force’s high command, calls on other members of the military to defect. The high command’s web page lists him, along with a photo, as the air force’s head of strategic planning.
On its Twitter account, the high command accuses the general of treason. Yanez is the first active Venezuelan general to recognize Guaido since he proclaimed himself president on Jan. 23.
“The transition to democracy is imminent,” Yanez says in the video. He also describes Maduro as a dictator and refers to Guaido as his president. Yanez does not say whether he is still in Venezuela or has left the country.
In the video, he claims that “90 per cent” of the country’s armed forces are against Maduro.
ATENCIÓN: General de División Francisco Estéban Yánez Rodríguez, Director de Planificación Estratégica del Alto Mando Militar de la Aviación, reconoce a Juan Guaidó como Presidente (E) de Venezuela. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/2Feb?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#2Feb</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Uz4fOixsvq”>pic.twitter.com/Uz4fOixsvq</a>
—@Gbastidas