Venezuela as a Geo-political drama, watching how Trump and Putin playing

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido announced yesterday that he had initiated the "final phase" of his plan to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido, in a video posted on Twitter earlier on Tuesday morning, said troops had heeded months of urging to join his campaign to oust Maduro.

"We call on the people to remain on maximum alert to -- with our glorious National Bolivarian Armed Forces -- defeat the attempted coup and preserve peace," Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez tweeted. The government was confronting a small group of "military traitors" seeking to promote a coup, the minister posted on social media.

He urged Maduro's backers to rally at the presidential palace in Caracas to support him. Guaido, in a video posted on his Twitter account, was accompanied by men in military uniform and opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, who has been placed under house arrest.

Guaido declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January and vowed to overthrow Maduro. The United States is among some 50 countries that recognise Guaido as Venezuela's president, while it views the socialist president as illegitimate since he took office in January for a second term following elections widely seen as deeply flawed. It also warned against any attempt to arrest Guaido, who has been left free to roam Venezuela and hold rallies. Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaidó's puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

U.S. President Donald Trump "has been briefed and is monitoring the ongoing situation," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Spain called for peaceful elections and no bloodshed in Venezuela following Guaido's announcement. "Faced with these events we have to reiterate what we have always said about the situation in this country. We wish with all our might that there is no bloodshed," spokeswoman Isabel Celaa told a news conference.

Anti-Maduro protests are planned for Wednesday, including what Guaido has said will be "the largest march in Venezuela's history," part of what he calls the "definitive phase" of his effort to take office in order to call fresh elections.

Russia, Maduro's main backer and creditor with China, accused Guaido of "fueling conflict" in the oil-rich country. Maduro's leftist Latin American allies Cuba and Bolivia also condemned Guaido.

President Ivan Duque of neighboring Colombia - home to more than a million refugees from Maduro's regime - called on Twitter for "soldiers and the people of Venezuela to place themselves on the right side of history, rejecting dictatorship and Maduro's usurpation." Internet observatory NetBlocks reported "multiple internet services" were restricted in Venezuela following Guaido's appeal. In his video, recorded outside the La Carlota base, Guaido said the "definitive phase" had begun in his attempt to oust Maduro -- who has presided over a catastrophic economic implosion since taking over from his late mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013.

"Brave soldiers, brave patriots, brave men supporting the constitution have answered our call," Guaido said. Guaido appeared alongside high-profile opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez who had been put under house arrest by Maduro's regime but who announced he had been "freed" by soldiers supporting Guaido.

Tuesday's call comes ahead of opposition plans to hold a massive Mayday protest in Caracas. Tensions in Venezuela have been ratcheted up to a critical level this year, after Guaido, who is head of the opposition-ruled National Assembly, announced January 23 that he was the acting president under the constitution. He said Maduro had been fraudulently re-elected last year.

The United States and major Latin American powers including Brazil, Peru and Chile swiftly backed Guaido, followed later by EU nations. Yet although US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said "all options" are on the table regarding Venezuela -- including, implicitly, military action -- there has been no noticeable US military mobilisation.

Instead, Washington has upped the economic pressure, through sanctions aimed at Maduro's regime and by cutting sales of Venezuelan oil -- the South American country's main revenue earner. It also warned against any attempt to arrest Guaido, who has been left free to roam Venezuela and hold rallies.

In the meantime, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said "acts of violence" by some members of the armed forces on Tuesday had been "partly defeated" and that the military's top ranks remained "loyal to the constitution."

Padrino's comments in an address on state television came after some members of the National Guard heeded opposition leader Juan Guaido's call to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, leading to clashes with forces loyal to Maduro outside an air base in Caracas.