On the evening of 30 April, Maduro addressed the nation from Miraflores Palace, accompanied by high-level officials of his government and the armed forces. Maduro, discussing the day's events, stated "We have been facing various forms of coup d'etat, due to the obsessive efforts of the Venezuelan right, the Colombian oligarchy and the US empire". Guaidó further stated that protests and calls for defections would continue, saying that the opposition has "been doing this for 20 years" and that "[g]etting frustrated and tired is part of it, but Venezuelans have demonstrated that they always take the fight again when they have to". Some members of Venezuela's opposition have held López responsible for the failure of the uprising, saying that his unexpected appearance before the media during the event was an unhelpful performance to construct a positive public image awhich disrupted detailed plans, scaring away possible defectors.
Arrests and casualties Demonstrators protested "across the nation" on 30 April, with violence in more than five states, and demonstrations in every state.
Vladimir Padrino, Maduro's
Defense Minister, stated that the government was prepared to use weapons if necessary to deactivate the "attempted coup". A National Guard
armoured personnel carrier ran over protesters, captured on video "accelerating directly into a group of antigovernment protesters".
Salud Chacao reported having attended 69 injured. One 25-year-old man died when he was shot in the chest during a protest in the interior state of
Aragua. The NGO
Foro Penal denounced the arrests of military personnel as
forced disappearances; security forces have refused to give information to their relatives and lawyers. In May 2019,
Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) ordered the prosecution of seven
National Assembly members for their actions. The National Assembly dismissed the sentence, holding that the members of the Tribunal are illegitimate and their ruling violates the parliamentary immunity of the deputies. National Assembly vice president
Edgar Zambrano was arrested on 8 May, signaling a crackdown. With these seven deputies charged with "treason, conspiracy, instigation of insurrection, civil rebellion, criminal conspiracy, usurpation of functions, and public instigation to the disobedience of the laws", an
El País article stated that the Venezuelan parliament, elected to a majority in the 2015 elections, has been "systematically blocked" and dismembered by "political persecution" of 60% of its elected members. There was no preliminary merit hearing as required by law; an additional three deputies were indicted without a preliminary merit hearing.
Defections Manuel Cristopher Figuera publicly criticized Maduro and corruption in his government, yet recognized him as president and a "good man" ("un hombre bueno"). While under house arrest, Leopoldo López reportedly held meetings with military and high-level officials close to Maduro, allegedly promising that they would maintain some positions in a transitional government and would not face criminal prosecution if they assisted Maduro's removal. According to
Voice of America, experts in the United States believe that "there is still a long way to go" for Guaidó to find support among the armed forces, stating that the
Atlantic Council described the defection of National Guardsmen as "significant, but insufficient".
Foreign intervention Unnamed sources told CNN that the
United States Department of State was caught off guard by Guaidó's decision to launch the "final phase" a day earlier than expected. US President Donald Trump expressed frustration that "some aides are more openly teasing military intervention", according to CNN, and expressed skepticism about the reliability of US intelligence that suggested that senior Maduro allies were preparing to defect. Bolton stated that Cuba and Russia likely helped prop Maduro up during the day,
The New York Times wrote that Bolton "said important officials in the Maduro administration have been in communication with the opposition and had committed to achieving the transfer of power from Mr. Maduro to Mr. Guaidó", despite Moreno and Padrino both speaking out in support of Maduro. CNN reported that the Trump administration is seeking ways to give Guaidó control of more Venezuelan assets in the U.S., to help get funding and humanitarian aid to the country. Judge Marisela Godoy walked out of a Venezuela Supreme Court (TSJ) hearing on 1 May that was to rule on the events of 30 April without the justices having access to the content of the ruling; Godoy said this had become a customary process in the TSJ, and she encouraged her colleagues to protest. Thousands to tens of thousands of supporters showed up for demonstrations on 1 May for Guaidó. A smaller number attended Maduro's rival protest. According to
The New York Times, most Maduro supporters "appeared to be retirees or public sector workers" and many were "brought in from across the country by public buses". According to the BBC, "For years, state employees have been told that if they did not turn up at government rallies, they would lose their jobs." The protests supporting Maduro were mainly working-class Venezuelans. Guaidó acknowledged he had received insufficient military backing, and called for strikes beginning on 2 May, with the aim of a general strike later in the month. The TSJ issued an arrest warrant for López on 2 May, who exited the gates of the Spanish Embassy, with his wife
Lilian Tintori, to speak with reporters, saying that Maduro's days are numbered. Maduro appeared at an army base to praise the loyalty of the forces. During an interview with
The Washington Post, he stated that he would consider a U.S. military intervention should the time arise. On 11 May, Guaidó organized another march in Caracas, with a turnout of around a thousand Venezuelans. During the rally, Guaidó asked his ambassador appointed to the United States,
Carlos Vecchio, to start a dialog with the
US Southern Command.
Simonovis release Iván Simonovis—a former police commissioner arrested in November 2004 and accused by the
Hugo Chávez government of the violence occurring in Caracas during the April 2002
Llaguno Overpass events—left house arrest on 17 May. Guaidó said that security forces loyal to him released Simonovis. Guaidó claims that the order was sent on 30 April and that Simonovis was pardoned and freed as part of Operation Freedom. One month later, Simonovis arrived in the United States.
Reception In a May poll by Datanálisis, 39% of respondents said the events of 30 April were beneficial for Guaidó, about 29% said the events strengthened Maduro, and the rest were undecided. Half of respondents viewed Guaidó's actions as legitimate. One in three considered the event a ''coup d'état''. Some academics and media outlets would ultimately describe the event as a
coup d'état.
The Nation would write, "Foreign outlets, dutifully supporting Trump administration calls for regime change, reported that a widespread uprising was underway, even though Juan Guaidó’s coup attempt had little support". == Response ==