April 30 saw mass demonstrations in Venezuela both in favor Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro. In the case of Guaidó, his call to arms was part of what he sees as “the final phase of Operation Freedom”, while Maduro held an event to mark International Workers’ Day. Guaidó urged public employees not to return to work on May 2, ahead of the general national strike he hopes to organize but for which no date has yet been set. On the other hand, Maduro encouraged his supporters, among them governors and mayors, to participate in a Bolivarian People’s Congress, with the objective of preparing a National Plan for Change and Rectification. The Bolivarian People Congress will be held between May 4 and 5, to “incorporate the proposals of the people into a national plan of change,” Maduro announced. Separately, the chancellors of the Lima Group will meet in Lima, Peru, on Friday May 3, to analyze the situation in Venezuela.

“We must admit that the April 30 protests were not enough,” Guaidó said, referring to the limited support of the Armed Forces in his attempt to “oust the usurper from power”. Even so, Guaidó said that “the people will continue in the streets until Venezuela is free”. He called for strike action from public sector workers on March 2, the first in a string of strikes he hopes to organize culminating in a general, national one. “Smaller strikes will progressively lead to a major strike. Every day there will be actions until freedom is achieved”, said the interim president.

Meanwhile, Maduro commented on the April 30 incidents at his event to celebrate International Workers’ Day. “They couldn’t bring Chávez down, nor they will oust us,” he said, referring to the attempted coup d’état against the former Venezuelan president in 2002. At the same time, Maduro asked Venezuelans to take to the streets “to defend democracy” against the “right-wing governments manipulated by the United States”. Maduro also called on the Bolivarian People’s Congress to meet May 4 and 5 to discuss proposals with the aim of “changing everything, to rectify errors, in the midst of the battle”. Maduro issued a rallying call to Chavist organizations, governors and mayors, and to Congress: “Together, the three levels of government, will work out a solution to the blockade”, referring to the economic and commercial sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela.

Outside Venezuela, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the countries of the region that make up the Lima Group, such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Canada and Peru, are set to meet next Friday, May 3, in Lima, Peru, to continue analyzing the situation in Venezuela. The officials held an emergency meeting April 30 in response to the incidents in the South American country.