“One of our delegates is in Venezuela and she was trying to go to these protests, and couldn’t find them. They seem like no one is showing up for these protests. So, Guaido is loosing power as he embraces the United States, as he calls for US troops, as he is tied to this terrorism and the electrical grid attack, he is loosing power. And on the other side, [Venezuelan incumbent President Nicolas] Maduro is gaining power," Zeese said.
READ MORE: Guaido Mobilizes ‘Thousands' for ‘Operation Freedom' Under Power Outages Pretext
Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, reportedly organized "thousands" of protesters at some 100 rally points across the nation, Efecto Cocuyo website reported Saturday.
He called for mass protests on March 30 earlier this week in order to prepare for the April 6 active phase of what he dubbed "tactical actions" of his Operation Freedom, aimed at ousting Maduro.
Guaido said opposition had formed aid and freedom committees that would take part in the action but gave away no details of what was planned.
READ MORE: Venezuelan Parliament Leader Rebuffs Guaido Over Red Cross Access 'Victory'
Earlier in March, Zeese, along with a 13-member delegation from the US Peace Council organization, visited Venezuela to get a first-hand look of the situation in the country. The delegation met with Maduro, country’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza other government officials, as well as with the leaders of the Human Rights Council.
The United States and 54 countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president and called on Maduro to step down.
Maduro, on his part, has called Guaido a US puppet and accused the United States of trying to orchestrate a coup to topple Venezuela’s legitimate government as well as claim the country’s resources.
Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba, Bolivia and a number of other countries have said they recognize Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.
