Rioting breaks out in Venezuela amid 'attempted coup'
Caracas: Demonstrators clashed with police on the streets of the Venezuelan capital Tuesday, spurred by opposition leader Juan Guaido's call on the military to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro -- who said he had defeated an attempted coup.
An apparently carefully planned attempt by Guaido to demonstrate growing military support disintegrated into rioting as palls of black smoke rose over eastern Caracas.
Tuesday evening, Maduro declared victory over the uprising -- congratulating the armed forces for having "defeated this small group that intended to spread violence through putschist skirmishes." "This will not go unpunished," Maduro said in an address broadcast on television and the radio.
"(Prosecutors) will launch criminal prosecutions for the serious crimes that have been committed against the constitution, the rule of law and the right to peace."
Guaido had been immediately backed the United States, where President Donald Trump said in a tweet Washington was standing behind the Venezuelan people and their "freedom."
He rallied his supporters with an early morning video message that showed him -- for the first time -- with armed troops he said had heeded months of urging to join his campaign to oust Maduro.
The 35-year-old National Assembly leader was filmed outside the La Carlota air base, where he asked the armed forces inside to join him.
The video had the extra shock value of featuring key opposition figure Leopoldo Lopez at his side, saying soldiers had released him from years of house arrest.
Guaido claimed the move was the "beginning of the end" of Maduro's regime, and there was "no turning back." He later called for a fresh round of protests on Wednesday, in another video message.
Thousands of opposition supporters flocked onto a highway near the air base, many waving Venezuelan flags, but they were met with gunfire and tear-gas fired by soldiers at the compound's perimeter.
Lopez later entered the Chilean embassy with his wife and one of his children to claim asylum, before moving to the Spanish embassy, Chile's Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero announced in Santiago.
Soldiers backing Guaido wore blue armbands to demonstrate their allegiance to the opposition leader -- recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries -- but there appeared to be few of them.
Brazil said later a number of Venezuelan troops had sought asylum at its Caracas embassy. Brazilian media put that number at 25.
But Maduro had called on his forces to show "nerves of steel" and troops in riot gear, backed by armored vehicles and water tankers, lined up against the demonstrators.
Several vehicles plowed into the crowd, injuring some of the protesters. Rioters later blocked the highway with a bus and set it on fire. A plume of black smoke rose from an area near a helicopter hangar on the base, where demonstrators who briefly managed to enter were pushed back.
"Today is the day Maduro resigns. Today is the day all the country's drug dealers resign. Today we have a Venezuela. Today we have a nation," said one protester amid the confusion.
As United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to all sides to avoid violence, Venezuela's army chief and defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino issued a stark warning of possible "bloodshed" -- adding that he would hold the opposition responsible.
He later said an army colonel had received a bullet wound to the neck during the clashes in Caracas. Health officials said 69 people were injured, including two from bullet wounds.
The US, meanwhile, called on the military to protect the people and support "legitimate institutions" including the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN he believed Maduro was ready to flee the country to ally Cuba before he was dissuaded by Russia -- a claimed Maduro later refuted.
Moscow, Maduro's main backer and creditor alongside China, accused Guaido of "fueling conflict" in the oil-rich country. Maduro's leftist Latin American allies Bolivia and Cuba also condemned Guaido.
Trump threatened a "full and complete embargo" and tougher sanctions against Cuba if it doesn't end military support for Venezuela. Pro- and anti-Maduro demonstrations were held outside the Venezuelan embassies in several Latin American and European capitals.
Internet observatory NetBlocks reported that "multiple internet services" were restricted in Venezuela following Guaido's appeal. The government suspended broadcasts from BBC Mundo, CNN International and a Caracas radio station, local media and the National Union of Press Workers said.
The Lima Group of mostly Latin American countries announced an emergency meeting in Lima on Friday to discuss the crisis. In his video, 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. The opposition plans to hold a massive May Day protest in Caracas, where Maduro will also lead a rival rally.
Tensions in Venezuela have been ratcheted up to a critical level this year, after Guaido announced on January 23 that he was the acting president under the constitution. He said Maduro had been fraudulently re-elected last year.
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Seven killed in B'luru govt hospital wall collapse, CM orders probe
Bengaluru (PTI): Seven people, including a child, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall of the city's Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital collapsed due to heavy rains here on Wednesday, police said.
Officials had initially said three children were killed, but the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) later clarified that only a six-year old girl was among the deceased.
The victims included those from Kerala, and had come here as part of a study tour.
When heavy rains, coupled with strong winds and a hailstorm, battered the area, victims taking shelter near a wall were trapped when it suddenly collapsed. Seven people were killed on the spot.
Police and emergency services personnel rushed to the spot with an earthmover to bring out the bodies and the injured from the debris with the help of other citizens.
Learning about the incident, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the spot along with the Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao and Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh to take stock of the situation.
Siddaramaiah took the GBA officials to task for the tragedy.
Briefing reporters after the spot inspection, the chief minister said, "Seven people have died....seven people are injured. All of them are stable. They are all out of danger. I have told the doctors to provide treatment free of cost."
"Rs 5 lakh solatium will be given to the kin of each deceased. Because, unfortunately, those who died are very poor people — traders, street vendors," he added.
Siddaramaiah said an inquiry will be conducted to find out why the wall collapsed.
"We will conduct an inquiry to see whether the engineers are at fault. If they are found responsible, action will be taken against them immediately," he said.
According to the CM, there was civil work going on inside the compound wall. The contractor was dumping soil against the compound wall.
He said that due to the pressure of soil dumped against it, the wall might have collapsed.
"Prima facie, it appears to have fallen due to that pressure. So I have asked the engineers — the Executive Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer — whether they had checked if it had become weak or not," Siddaramaiah said.
No one knew there would be heavy and untimely rains, the CM said, adding that these were pre-monsoon rains.
Deputy CM and Minister in charge of Bengaluru, D K Shivakumar, who was in Kanakapura in Bengaluru South district, rushed to the city and visited the spot for inspection.
Speaking to reporters, he said some people took shelter against the wall as the rain started, due to which they died.
"I am deeply pained to learn about this incident. Such things should not have happened. Many trees have fallen, and vehicles were damaged. I will direct officials to cut the weak trees because there was a risk of such tragedies happening again during the monsoon".
According to him, four people from Kerala were affected, of whom two were killed in this tragedy.
"We will conduct the postmortem at the earliest and send the bodies to Kerala," Shivakumar said.
Officials in Kerala's Ernakulam said two members of Kudumbashree, Smitha and Latha, died in the wall collapse. They were natives of Ramamangalam in Ernakulam.
The Kudumbashree group had gone there as part of a study tour.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka, said the loss of innocent lives—children, street vendors and pedestrians who had sought shelter from the rain—is not just a natural calamity or accident; "it is a state-sponsored disaster born out of sheer administrative negligence."
"How many more lives must be sacrificed at the altar of poor infrastructure and civic apathy? While the Congress government indulges in tall claims of 'Brand Bengaluru,' the crumbling walls of a premier government hospital in the heart of the city tell a different, more lethal story. For this Congress Government, it seems the lives of the poor and the common man are disposable," he posted on 'X'.
BJP's State President B Y Vijayendra asked the Congress government in Karnataka to take responsibility for the incident, urging them to provide treatment to the injured and compensation to the families of the deceased.
