Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Vows to Punish "Operation Liberty" Protesters

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dismissed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's claims that the embattled leader was ready to flee the nation in a televised address last night, as he also vowed that protesters against his regime "cannot go unpunished."

"Mike Pompeo said today in the afternoon ... he said: 'Maduro has a plane ready to go to Cuba, to flee, and the Russians took him off the plane and forbade him to leave the country,'" Maduro said in a televised meeting. "Mr. Pompeo, please, what lack of seriousness."

Maduro also used the televised address to reiterate that he maintained the backing of the country's military and would be punishing dissidents.

"We have to identify all those people who fired weapons and go find them and submit them to justice, deliver them to the Prosecutor's Office and the courts to all," Maduro said. "There are videos of all kinds. We know who they are, we have to look for them. There can be no impunity, there must be justice for there to be peace in Venezuela."

Maduro was in part responding to Pompeo's claim that the socialist leader had been on the brink of fleeing Venezuela before Russia thwarted those ambitions.

"We made so much progress," Pompeo said last night. "We literally had Nicolas Maduro getting prepared to get on his airplane and head out of the country before he was stopped -- stopped, really at the direction of the Russians, and I must say, there'll be another sunrise tomorrow, and the opportunity for Venezuelan democracy, I am confident, will remain."

In astonishing scenes on Tuesday, violence broke out on the streets of Caracas after opposition leader Juan Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez -- freed from house arrest by deserted Venezuelan security forces -- called for an uprising early in the morning. They said they'd gained military backing and would begin the "final phase" of their push to oust Maduro.

Guaido -- whom the U.S. and 53 countries recognize as the nation's legitimate leader -- called for further protests in a statement on social media last night.

Venezuela was rocked by violent clashes on Tuesday between opposition protesters and security forces loyal to Maduro. The protests marked a dramatic escalation of the political crisis that's left the country teetering on the edge of violence for months.

"Maduro does not have the backing or respect from the Venezuelan armed forces, much less the Venezuelan people," Guaido said.

The Spanish government confirmed to The Associated Press that Lopez, a prominent opposition activist, was at Spain's embassy in Caracas.

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