Venezuelan former deputy Juan Guaidó in a fight with his own supporters in front of a restaurant in San Carlos, Cojedes state. Photo: Twitter/@PedroConductaz.
Caracas, June 11, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—Former deputy Juan Guaidó and the Venezuelan opposition experienced another embarrassing incident of violence this Saturday, June 11, carried out by their own anti-Chavista followers, who confronted him, pushed him, threw chairs and insulted him at the Moringa restaurant in San Carlos, Cojedes state. He was at that restaurant to have lunch after completing his visit to the city as part of a tour of Venezuela.
Last week, in Zulia, during an event that far-right forces organized in a recently renovated sports facility, a group of Chavistas entered the place and criticized the opposition for organizing a political event in a facility renovated by the government of Nicolás Maduro. The Chavista group was viciously attacked by opposition supporters, but the incident did not receive too much media attention at that time.
This was last week among members of Guaido's Voluntad Popular in Zulia.https://t.co/iQB9dxb88I
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) June 11, 2022
Guaido was at the restaurant with several members of his party. However, it was opposition supporters themselves who confronted him, as Telesur journalist Madelein García reported through her Twitter account. According to her post, “it was not Chavistas who were outraged when they saw Guaidó, it was the opposition people themselves.”
Surgen más detalles, no fueron #chavistas los que se indignaron al ver a #Guaidó, fueron los propios opositores.
El juicio de #Guaidó lo hará el propio pueblo #venezolano, su peor condena es el desprecio. pic.twitter.com/FPHCV8ZHAj
— Madelein Garcia (@madeleintlSUR) June 11, 2022
The Telesur journalist added, “Guaidó will be judged by the Venezuelan people themselves, his worst sentence will be contempt.”
Guaidó, who declared himself the “interim president” of Venezuela in February 2019, has participated in several coup attempts since 2019 and even signed a mercenary contract to kidnap or kill President Nicolás Maduro. A parliamentary commission of the National Assembly has accused him of multiple crimes against the state, including promotion of sanctions and foreign invasions and stealing Venezuelan assets abroad.
Meanwhile, Guaidó retweeted a post from his own communication office which claimed that one of the leaders of the violent incident against the extreme right politician was a former PSUV deputy, Nosliw Rodríguez.
#ALERTA | Identifican a la ex diputada del PSUV, Nosliw Rodríguez, como una de las líderes del ataque de bandas chavistas armadas contra el presidente (e) Guaidó en Cojedes.
Con esto se desmonta la campaña mediática del régimen de Maduro sobre supuesto ataque de opositores. pic.twitter.com/oaA5LL1mnV
— Centro de Comunicación Nacional (@Presidencia_VE) June 11, 2022
“Former PSUV deputy, Nosliw Rodríguez, has been identified as one of the leaders of the attack by Chavista armed gangs against (Interim) President Guaidó in Cojedes,” claimed Guaidó’s channel in a tweet. “With this, the regime’s media campaign about it being an attack by opposition supporters, is unveiled.”
Although the tweet claims that armed gangs attacked Guaidó, no weapon is visible in any of the videos or photos posted. The anti-Chavista narrative about Chavista supporters being perpetrators of armed violence is mostly a projection of the opposition’s own violent nature.
It also seems likely that Guaidó’s channel used pictures from the incident in Zulia last week and passed those off as photos from the incident in Cojedes.
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Washington comes to the rescue
A few hours after the incident, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, posted on his Twitter account a message demanding justice against those responsible for the attack. This was interesting, taking into consideration that according to the White House, Juan Guaidó is the interim president of Venezuela and hence he, as head of the Venezuelan government, should be the one responsible for the security of Venezuelans including himself.
“We are deeply concerned by the unprovoked attack on President Guaidó and his colleagues,” wrote Nichols. “This egregious attack risked lives; those responsible for the assault should be brought to justice.”
We are deeply concerned by the unprovoked attack on President @jguaido and his colleagues. This egregious attack risked lives; those responsible for the assault should be brought to justice.
— Brian A. Nichols (@WHAAsstSecty) June 11, 2022
Many on social media platforms mocked Nichols’ statement for upgrading Guaidó from “interim president” to “president,” while others wondered how Guaidó could bring to justice those who attacked him when he does not have control over a single part of the Venezuelan judicial system.
Perhaps an indication that the Summit was not that much of a disaster for Biden, the US is as arrogant as ever, even more so, they just upgraded Guaidó to Pres from Interim Pres! Just wondering. @freedomrideblog @ajamubaraka https://t.co/yOpy1G2nlb
— Arnold August (@Arnold_August) June 12, 2022
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC/EF
