Venezuela on tenterhooks ahead of rival protests, Maduro swearing-in

Venezuela is on tenterhooks as it braces for pro- and anti-government protests Thursday – the eve of President Nicolás Maduro's swearing-in for a third term rejected by the opposition and much of the international community as illegitimate.

With exiled opposition figure Edmundo González Urrutia vowing to return home to claim the presidency he insists he won in elections last July, his supporters have been called to turn out in millions ahead of Friday's investiture ceremony.

But backers of Maduro's ruling Chavista movement have vowed to take to the streets as well, and thousands of heavily-armed police and soldiers have been deployed in Caracas in advance.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has said anti-Maduro protesters, whom he described as "fascists" and "terrorists," "will regret" turning out, vowing that "we will go on the counter-attack."

A brutal crackdown on the protests that met Maduro's election victory claim five months ago saw 28 people killed, some 200 injured and more than 2,400 arrested. 

"What will happen is unpredictable," Venezuelan Mailin Rodríguez told AFP on the streets of Caracas Tuesday. "I don't know if what will happen will be good or bad."

Amid the rising tension, González Urrutia was winding down an international tour that has taken him to Argentina, Uruguay and the United States – where he received strong support Monday from US President Joe Biden.

He is headed next to Panama, where he will meet former Latin American presidents and a dozen current foreign ministers Wednesday as part of a campaign to drum up pressure on Maduro to step aside.

"Edmundo González Urrutia's strategy is to give impetus to the opposition cause and assume a leading role in trying to increase international pressure," Mariano de Alba, a Venezuelan expert in international relations, told AFP. 

As for his vow to take power on Friday? "Unlikely," said de Alba. 

Authorities in Caracas have vowed to arrest González Urrutia, who was granted exile in Spain last September, if he returns to the country.

Several of the ex-presidents he is due to meet Wednesday have announced they intend to fly with González Urrutia to Caracas to assume office. They did not explain how such a trip would unfold.

"That aircraft, those crew members, the crew and passengers must be treated as a foreign force trying to invade," Parliamentary speaker Jorge Rodríguez warned this week.

'Historic day'

Opposition leader María Corina Machado, whom González Urrutia replaced as presidential candidate at the last minute after she was barred by the authorities from running, has said she will come out of hiding to join protesters Thursday.

Her exact whereabouts have not been made public to avoid Maduro supporters gathering in the same place.

"I will not miss this historic day for anything," Machado told AFP Monday.

The opposition says its own tally of polling station election results show that González Urrutia had won hands down.

But the country's electoral council, loyal to the regime, handed the win to Maduro without releasing a vote breakdown.

His claim to victory is not recognized by the United States, European Union and numerous other countries, including many in Latin America.

All eyes are on US President-elect Donald Trump to see whether he will adopt new punitive measures against the oil-rich Caribbean country, as he had done in his first term.

'Hooded men'

González Urrutia, who had urged Venezuela's armed forces over the weekend to recognize him as the legitimately-elected "commander-in-chief," had his plea firmly rebuffed Monday by the country's defense minister.

On Tuesday, the opposition leader, 75, said his son-in-law had been snatched by "hooded men."

Machado, for her part, accused "agents of the regime" of surrounding her 84-year-old mother's house, flying drones overhead and cutting power to the neighborhood.

Maduro meanwhile on Tuesday announced the arrest of seven "mercenaries" – two US citizens, two Colombians and three Ukrainians. The president has frequently made allegations of US-led attacks to unseat him.

"The government has had to rely more and more on the Armed Forces and the police to stay in power," Phil Gunson, of the International Crisis Group think tank, told AFP.

"Since July 28, that dependency has become more evident, and from January 10 onwards it will deepen."

NGO director missing

A Venezuela press freedom NGO called Wednesday for the immediate release of its director, allegedly spirited away by hooded men..

The Espacio Publico NGO said it lost contact with Carlos Correa on Tuesday afternoon, when witnesses reported he was "intercepted in the centre of Caracas by hooded men presumed to be officials" of the regime.

On Tuesday, Maduro activated an "integral defence" plan for the deployment of police and soldiers countrywide.

Espacio Publico said it would seek clarification on Correa's whereabouts from authorities.

The NGO has reported more than 400 newspapers, radio and TV stations shuttered in two decades of Chavista rule under Maduro and his predecessor.

Venezuela is near the bottom of the press freedom ranking of Reporters Without Borders.