Demonstrators in Venezuelan capital, demands release of Maduro, wife by U.S.

Nahum Fernandez, head of the government of Caracas, called for unity to confront the anti-government campaigns promoted by the national and international opposition.

“There is no doubt here, what we must have here is revolutionary unity, what we must have here is the mobilization of a united people,” he said. Participants marched from Ali Primera Park in the west of the capital to Plaza O’Leary in the downtown area.

Angel Prado, Venezuelan minister of communes, social movements and urban agriculture, said: “We want to tell the world that in Venezuela, the power of the people rules.

In Venezuela, Maduro rules … and if Chavismo doesn’t rule here, nobody rules here.” Prado expressed his support for the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, saying that she was carrying out Maduro’s instruction “not to let the government fall.”

Jorge Arreaza, rector of the National University of Communes, said Venezuelans were ready and organized thanks to the policies implemented by the head of state. “President Maduro prepared us for this,” he said, calling on protesters to have faith in their leaders and to ignore rumors and misinformation.

The acting president faces “a tough dialogue process” amid further threats of military attacks by the United States, he said.

Since the U.S. military operation of kidnapping Maduro and his wife, killing dozens and damaging telecommunications, health, and residential infrastructure, Venezuelans have been demonstrating in support of Maduro. 

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday expressed the availability of his good offices to support a possible inclusive national dialogue in Venezuela, his spokesperson said.

Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief had just concluded a meeting with Venezuelan UN ambassador Samuel Moncada, which lasted about 45 minutes. “During the meeting, the secretary-general reiterated his publicly-stated position on the U.S. military action in Venezuela,” said Dujarric.

In remarks to the UN Security Council on Monday, delivered on his behalf by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, Guterres said he was “deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted.”

“I remain deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected with regard to the Jan. 3 military action,” said the UN chief, who also called on all Venezuelan actors to engage in an inclusive, democratic dialogue in which all sectors of society can determine their future.

In the early hours of Jan. 3, U.S. military forces carried out a series of strikes on Venezuela, taking by force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, before putting them in custody in New York, which sparked widespread condemnation