Venezuelans brace for tense aid delivery bid

In the latest maneuver of his standoff with socialist President Nicolas Maduro, self-declared interim leader Guaido on Wednesday rallied bus drivers who he said will head to the borders to collect aid for Venezuelans suffering shortages.

Private bus driver Jose Figueroa, 60, said he planned to leave Caracas in the coming days in a convoy of some 30 vehicles.

"The government is leading us to war. It will be very difficult. The situation is extremely tense," he said, as drivers parked their buses and pick-up trucks at a rally in central Caracas.

"But a bullet will kill you more quickly than hunger."

'Not afraid'

Guaido listed the planned transit points of entry for the aid at the Brazilian and Colombian borders, the island of Curacao and the seaports of Puerto Cabello and La Guaira.

The military has blocked the Tienditas bridge across the Colombian border to stop aid coming through. Another, the Simon Bolivar bridge, remains open to pedestrians.

"Every day it gets harder. Everything is so expensive. They have to let in the aid," one man there, Richard Quintero, 19, told AFP.

Further details of how the opposition aims to distribute the aid were scarce.

Maduro has rejected the aid as a pretext for a US invasion.

His vice-president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Wednesday the government was shutting down air and sea links between Curacao and Venezuela. Guaido repeated his vow that the aid would enter "one way or another."

"Even though they point guns at us -- and all of us have received threats, rubber bullets and even live ones -- we are not afraid," he said, standing on the back of a truck in a throng of supporters.

"We will stay out in the street with our chests bared, demanding freedom for all of Venezuela."

Foreign 'aggression'

Guaido says he aims to rally a million volunteers to start bringing in the aid by his February 23 deadline.

US officials say the aid will reach thousands of Venezuelans and last for a few weeks.

Guaido's rally on Wednesday gathered just a couple of dozen buses and pick-up trucks.

The pro-opposition drivers had planned to hold their rally at a major crossroads further west but found the avenue blocked by a far bigger demonstration.

Hundreds of state bus drivers rallied in the red shirts of the pro-government "Chavismo" movement, in a gathering convened by the authorities.

They yelled their loyalty to Maduro -- himself a former bus driver -- and the memory of his predecessor, the father of Venezuela's socialist "revolution", Hugo Chavez.

State-employed bus driver Julio Arocha, 53, admitted he was "negatively affected" by the crisis, "economically, psychologically", but was getting by thanks to state food handouts.

Like Maduro -- who says the aid shipments are a pretext for a US invasion -- Arocha blamed the crisis on foreign "aggression."

"The aggression is intensifying. The word 'humanitarian' is a euphemism," he said.

"They are not going to succeed (in delivering the aid) in the way they plan to."

Catalyst for change

Venezuela's economic crisis has led to hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods.

"Even if the February 23 deadline does not serve as a catalyst (for regime change), Maduro will likely pay a cost either way," wrote Eurasia Group analyst Risa Grais-Targow in a note this week.

"Barring the entrance of food and medicine into the country will prompt additional international condemnation and isolation, while it will also probably fuel opposition protests and deepen popular demand for change."

Figueroa said bus drivers like himself were suffering from a lack of parts and oil. His monthly salary is worth $6.

He said the drivers would share their resources in the hope of getting their vehicles ready for the journey to the border.

"Venezuela is broken. The transport system is broken," he said. "I hope that the government will think carefully about it on Saturday when we bring the aid in."