Caracas.- Nicolás Maduro spoke this Saturday afternoon in the so-called march "for peace", which started on the Avenida Libertador and ended at Avenida Urdaneta, at the Miraflores Palace. In his speech, Maduro congratulated Diosdado Cabello and all "the high command of the revolution" (sic) for the nationwide deployment. "Venezuela is in the streets mobilized with the tricolor flag. We are the majority, we are the children of Hugo Chávez Frías (...) I am harder than ever, it is not a time of betrayal, "he said.

"We are fighting the battle independently. We achieve peace with national dignity to those who want to kneel our country to the Colombian oligarchy. It is not a time of betrayal, it is time to defend the country. I feed on your love and loyalty. I am a man of the people, I am not a patique of the oligarchy nor will I be a puppet of imperialism. I am a simple man, my school, the neighborhoods, the factories the workers. I have not been or will be part of any elite, "he said.

"I'm harder than ever governing Venezuela," Maduro said. "Sovereign cognac that we are putting the blow," he said.

"If some day you wake up with the news that something has happened to Maduro, go out and make a real revolution. But I never give up or give up," he finished.

Andrew Roth in Moscow

Russian private security contractors have traveled to Venezuela to provide security to the embattled president Nicolás Maduro, the Reuters news agency has reported.

Citing three sources, the news agency said that the mercenaries are linked to the Wagner group, which has carried out missions in Ukraine and Syria and is now reportedly active in countries in Africa, too.

If it is confirmed that contractors from the group traveled to Venezuela, this would be their first known deployment in the western hemisphere.

“The order came down on Monday to form a group to go to Venezuela. They are there to protect those at the highest levels of the government,” Yevgeny Shabaev, a Cossack leader with ties to military contractors, told the Guardian by telephone.

Shabaev, one of the sources cited by Reuters, is a campaigner for the rights of veterans, a group that overlaps heavily with those who join mercenary groups in Russia. He said he had been told about the trip by the relatives of the military contractors. A government spokesman did not immediately respond for comment about the report, although he had earlier told Reuters that the Kremlin had “no such information”.

The report comes after the US threw its support behind opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself president on Wednesday.

Russia and China, both of which have invested heavily in the country, have attacked the US for encroaching on Venezuela’s sovereignty. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday accused the US of “destructive interference from abroad.” The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, called it a “quasi-coup”.

The crisis has produced a familiar standoff, with a US-led coalition on one side and Russia and China on the other. But the distances involved have made the conventional wisdom here that Russia is unlikely to provide direct military support to Maduro’s government to avert a US military intervention.

Russia is an important source of financial support to the Venezuelan government, providing billions of dollars in loans, some as pre-payment for future deliveries of oil. Last month Russia dispatched two nuclear-capable Tu-160 bombers to the country in a further show of support.

While Shabaev said that the deployment of military contractors could be as large as 400 people, other sources cited by Reuters suggested the groups were smaller. There were conflicting reports about when the mercenaries may have arrived as well.

One of Reuters’ two anonymous Russian sources, who the news agency said is close to the Wagner group, said the contractors first arrived in advance of the May 2018 presidential election, but another group arrived “recently”.

For the NATIONAL
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 08:13 AM | UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 23, 2019 08:45 AM
Two tanks with three national guards broke the barriers placed by Nicolás Maduro on the Simón Bolívar International Bridge.

The GNB officials turned themselves in to the Colombian authorities.

Delcy Rodríguez reported on Friday the closure of the border bridges that connect Venezuela with Colombia.

She explained that the decision will be temporary, without specifying the duration of it.

Information in development

22 Feb. 2019 - The president of the National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello , confirmed this Friday that one person died in the incidents that occurred in Kumarakapay, in the state of Bolívar, and dissociated the Bolivarian National Guard from the events (GNB ) when talking about a "false positive".

"It is showing that the event in Kumarakapay does not involve the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) because of the type of cartridges used there," Cabello said.

In statements to the press given, within the framework of the Concert for Peace, on the border with Colombia, the Venezuelan official maintained that, according to the preliminary investigations into what happened, "armed bands of deputy Américo De Grazia and the party Voluntad Popular "would be involved in the incident, in which one person died and 14 were injured.

According to local media, the death took place in Kumarakapay, on the border with Brazil, during a supposed confrontation between residents of the indigenous community and the GNB. However, Diosdado Cabello denied that information and told the deputy of Grazia to be behind the "false positive".

The violent episode occurs in moments of maximum tension on the border with Colombia, where, with only 300 meters away from each other, there are two concerts, the Live Aid Venezuela, organized by those who support the entry of the supposed "humanitarian aid" sent by the US, and the Concert for Peace, organized by the government of Nicolás Maduro to reject the entry of goods and defend the "sovereignty" of the Caribbean country.

María Teresa Belandria, ambassador of Venezuela in Brazil, reported Saturday that the first truck with humanitarian aid entered the country already.

"10:55 am from Pacaraima border of Venezuela with Brazil. We can report that the truck with humanitarian aid crossed the border, at this moment it is on the Venezuelan side, "said Belandria in a video broadcast on Twitter.

The diplomatic official described the income of the inputs as a great victory as a result of the efforts made by the governments of the United States and Brazil in conjunction with the pressure carried out by the Venezuelan people.

"We did it, this is a great victory. It is the summation of all the efforts of the United States, Brazil and the Venezuelans. We have a victory and we will achieve it, we are free and free, "he said.

Caracas / Photo: Caracol.- The signal of the Antena 3 international and National Geographic channels were suspended from the subscription operators DirecTV and Intercable.

Through Twitter, users reported that both channels stopped being seen. The information was confirmed by the National Union of Workers of the Press of Venezuela (SNTP).

The signal from both channels was taken off the air while the Venezuela Aid Live concert was broadcast, which aims to raise USD 100 million to buy food and medicines that will be destined for the country's most susceptible population.

In this regard, the journalist Eugenio Marquez, announced that Conatel threatened the directors of the cable companies with imprisoning them if they did not remove the air channels that were broadcasting the concert, as reported by a source from the state.

Caracas / Cover photo: Presidential Press.- Journalist for The New York Times accredited in Caracas, Anatoly Kurmanaev , informed on Thursday that Vladimir Putin's spokesman assures that the Russian president "has no information" on any kind of humanitarian aid sent by that country to Venezuela.

"Putin's spokesman said today that he has no information about any Russian aid. I also find small Russian flags in curious containers, "Kurmanaev wrote on his Twitter account.

Nicolás Maduro celebrated the arrival in Venezuela of 7.5 tons of medicines, presumably from Russia. " To continue equipping our country, " he said from the Salón Sol del Perú in the Miraflores Palace, adding that they also received 108,428 units of medicines, surgical equipment and equipment to strengthen the health system.

"We could have mounted this note yesterday Wednesday. But the cyber attack prevented it. What you will read below is the product of a brief conversation with a military high command in Caracas. And this is what it says."

-Nicolás Maduro is gone. This is a matter of days. Maduro knows it, and the ministers who accompany him know it. Diosdado Cabello knows it.

-The break in the Armed Forces occurred. It already occurred. There is a divorce between what the generals and the Military High Command think and do and what the average officers, the middle cadres, think and do and want to do.

- Why have not they pronounced? For the guarantees. There is confusion in it. The so-called amnesty proposed by Juan Guaidó has not been well managed. There is no clarity around it. And Guaidó is observed only in this endeavor as if it were a particular commitment and not of all opposition. Who guarantees what?

- Also the position of the spokesmen of the United States does not help. They went from threat to request. Then, no officer with command and control of units will be pronounced because he will appear before the others as if he obeyed orders from Marco Rubio, John Bolton, Elliot Abrams or Donald Trump. This is so, and you have to take it into account. The speech of Hugo Chávez , for years, opened an ideological gap in the Armed Forces, and that is why General Vladimir Padrino López and Maduro appeal to the Chavista, Bolivarian and anti-imperialist condition of the Armed Forces. This is a point that the opposition, in its military policy, must take into account once it takes power.

- So the final break will happen hot. As events unfold in the coming days with the humanitarian aid plan that includes the mobilization of people to all barracks and commandos in the country. People on the street will tip the scales, determine the outcome.

On the morning of this Thursday, February 21, the caravan departed that would take the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó and the deputies of the National Assembly to the border in order to receive humanitarian aid.

As expected, the regime of Nicolás Maduro did not stay behind and imposed obstacles on the whole road. It all started with three sand trucks that were located on Francisco de Miranda Avenue by officials of the Bolivarian National Police.

https://twitter.com/DipYanetFermin/status/1098639828713959424
Translation: We managed to open the two lanes of the Cabrera Tunnel after the GNB scared us

However, through social networks it was known that members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) blocked the passage in the La Cabrera tunnel, on the Regional Highway of the Center. This resulted in the parliamentarians trying to mediate with the military, who opted to deflate bus tires.

The action of the military personnel produced the confrontation between the travelers and the uniformed ones, who responded with tear gas and pellets. It was known that of the five buses that went in the caravan, two managed to pass while the rest was retained.