this particular general barry director of strategic planning for the air force but not somebody. whether the. defection. and how likely is majority to react to this. well i you know today is that it's going to be dominated by the rival demonstrations on the street the opposition as you say what you actually get across it's huge numbers of people in the street today nothing that's going to dominate the news so unless the rest of the defections you know we may not hear a great deal more about this. and even the jury's alstad how would you support his take it. that's a different question there are many armed civilians not just the armed forces of course here we have many who are loyal to the regime and who may be deployed could be deployed on many occasions in the process to attack demonstrations for their population if there's an actual change of government many of them of those who are going to grab some of them by exist. and that these protests have been violent in the past and what is the feeling there are people worried that it's going to get out of control today. so generally

i'm rebecca ritter's welcome to the program and venezuela high ranking air force general has declared allegiance to opposition leader one. general francisco younis released a video statement via twitter saying he recognized him as interim head of state it's a major victory for quite a who has been working hard to persuade venezuela when us wireless. forces to abandon support for president nicolas maduro let's hear a bit of what the general had to say maybe who i am addressing you today to say that i reject the illegitimate and dictatorial authority of mr nicolas maduro and accept one quite go as the president in charge of the boulevard republic of venezuela in a way ninety percent of the armed forces oppose the dictator and support the venezuelan people if. that high profile backing comes as thousands of protesters held rival rallies across venezuela self declared interim president one why don't you join supporters in the capital caracas they want to do roach call fresh elections everywhere madeira supporters held rallies marking twenty years since the rise to power of late neda hugo

hello again the top stories on al-jazeera a high ranking venezuelan air force general has broken ranks of president nicolas maduro he says he now recognizes opposition leader fido is interim head of say it's russia's president has pulled out of a decade's old nuclear missile following the u.s. this isn't to do the same lottery putin says moscow will no longer initiate disarmament talks with washington and will start working on numerous solves there are warnings of a humanitarian crisis in northeastern syria activists say more than two hundred civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced by the battle for parts of datas or. elsewhere in a remote part of syria nearly fifty thousand people are trapped at the bond count they're calling on the u.n. to provide a safe passage to rebel controlled areas in the north where the campus essentially in a no man's land where the borders of syria jordan and iraq meets jordan has called for it to be dismantled samaha reports from beirut. almost fifty thousand syrians among them some rebel fighters have been trapped in this makeshift camp

a venezuelan air force general has just declared his support for quite what more can you tell us . yes well this is something that reporters from wise all have given a lot of hope because for the first time in twenty years we're seeing definite signs that this revolution started by who were childless it's ending today as people around me are gathering forward huge demonstrations social media happy ruptured with a video of this general from the aviation division of the military supporting one way bill and saying that ninety percent of the military is against what he called my daughter's dictatorship so this has given the opposition a lot of confidence and one where the strategy but aside from the strategy then is one skill supported by the international community with these leeches recognized as president a term and b. you lack of also stepped up its threat for mother to leave the presidency or else for people today will be protesting with a sense of security that mothers were jane was on the verge of ending the war he's still holding on so if what the general on the video is true a

nicolas maduro opposition leader again called on the military to switch sides just after an air force generalbecame the highest ranking military defector. thought of was you know you are hand remained to or government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the armed forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully and mouse respecting the constitution and saying that they accept military and aid and they are on the side of venezuela the government of the central african republic has struck a peace deal with fourteen armed groups the agreement was reached after a week of talks in sudan's capital khartoum it's hoped the deal will end to five years of violence between muslim rebels and christian fighters which has uprooted more than one million people and pushed the country towards famine russia says it's withdrawing from the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty a day after the u.s. said it would stop observing the arms control pact washington

nicolas maduro opposition leader who again called on the military to switch sides just after an air force generalbecame the highest ranking military defector siegelman that's the india i thought of was you know use our hand remains outstretched to all government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the armed forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully and mouse respecting the constitution and saying that they accept a minute tarion aid and they are on the side of venezuela or the government of central african republic has struck a peace deal with fourteen armed groups the agreement was reached after a week of talks in sudan's capital hard to it is hoped the deal will end five years of violence between muslim rebels and christian fighters which is up rooted more than a million people belgium has agreed to take in former ivory coast president long bug both after his acquittal by the international criminal court he was charged with crimes again

this morning he won an important ally, an air force general defected to his side.ple of venezuela. the transition to democracy is imminent. but the government of president nicolas maduro, this afternoon holding its own rallies, still controls this country. his most senior military commanders remain loyal, allowing him to stay in power. james reynolds, bbc news, caracas. thames valley police say they rescued an eight—week—old baby from a car that came off the road last night as snowy weather made driving conditions treacherous. in kent, emergency services answered hundreds of emergency calls as vehicles were stranded. the met office has issued weather warnings for ice in southern and eastern england and warned that temperatures in some parts could reach as low as minus 12 degrees celsius overnight. robert hall reports. it was a miserable night for so many. police and highways team is working to clear the aftermath of heavy snowfalls. this is the m3 in hampshire, seems mirrored on the a96 south of keith. laurie is just unable to cope with compacted snow and ice. in b

nicolas maduro opposition leader one again called on the military to switch sides just after an air force general became the highest ranking military defector . siegelman it's the india i thought of was you know you are hand remained arch bridge to all government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the armed forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully and mouse respecting the constitution and saying that they accept military and aid and they are on the side of venezuela the government of the central african republic has struck a peace deal with fourteen armed groups the agreement was reached after weeks of talks in saddam's capital khartoum it's hoped the deal work and five years of violence between was the rebels and christian fighters which is uprooted more than one million people and pushed the country toward starman belgium has agreed to take in former ivory coast president laurent gbagbo after his acquittal by the international crimina

say for the defection of one one envoy in washington and one air force general and a perhaps a few other officials the military so far sticking by madieu wrote this raises the question doesn't it of whether there's a plan b. if if if this doesn't work yeah that is indeed a very good question as far as i can tell there isn't really a plan b. unless it's to use military forces to intervene from outside in minnesota until the government which i think would be a most unfortunate development and is not something that the countries involved seem to be particularly looking for just of the circumstances might lead us to not direction if the militaristic with. sticks it out and the regime doesn't crumble the next step is to put humanitarian aid on the borders find a way though announced that today they're going to put humanity very date on the border inside colombia inside brazil and in the caribbean island which i suspect is probably perfectly legal. and then challenge the government basically to let it if they don't let it will go in with military force that's not a question that we can't answe

this morning, he won an important ally — an air force general defected to his side.st president maduro. they are with the people of venezuela. the transition to democracy is imminent. but the government of president nicolas maduro, this afternoon holding its own rallies, still controls this country. his most senior military commanders remain loyal, allowing him to stay in power. james reynolds, bbc news, caracas. it is indeed difficult to predict what will happen in venezuela in coming weeks. 0ur reporter rafael rojas has been monitoring the situation, and says today's protests against nicolas maduro attracted huge crowds. we have seen a large manifestation, large groups of people going out in anti—government protests, calling for the resignation of nicolas maduro. there have been more people on the streets, just because the last protest, the last day of protests was wednesday, when everyone was at work, they had only scheduled two hours. today, large groups of people were seen in many cities around venezuela. not only in caracas, where the protests normally take pla

nicolas maduro opposition leader one again cold on the military to switch sides just after an air force general became the highest ranking military defector. i thought of was you know use a hand remains outstretched to all government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the on forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully on mouse respecting the constitution and saying that they accept humanitarian aid and they are on the side of venezuela the government of central african republic has struck a peace deal with fourteen the agreement was resolved to a week of talks in sudan's capital khartoum it is hoped the deal will end five years of violence between muslim rebels and christian fighters which is up rooted more than one million people. belgium has agreed to take in former ivory coast president long by the bo after his acquittal by the international criminal court he was charged with crimes against humanity after violence erupted following th

and that's the sort of you are referring to outstretch to all come and work like the air force general who took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the armed forces just to make statements we expect they will stand up for sport of powerful. respect the constitution and thirty day except humanitarian aid of that they are on the thought of fairness while. but the president supporters of also been out in force they have been. demonstrating to mark the twentieth anniversary of the duros success. i'm in favor of the logistics of this country being legitimate or free elections and of the people deciding upon the new national assembly and not afraid of such a decision you want to lections early elections then we will hold legislative elections latin america and it's an easy and human has more now from caracas president last night little is offering to bring forward the just related elections the national assembly remember is controlled by the opposition that is certainly not likely to fly with his opponents who are calling for him to step down for a transit

i'm rebecca rich's welcome to the program in venezuela a high ranking air force official in general has declared allegiance to opposition leader one quite oh general francisco younis released a video statement via twitter saying he recognized why go as interim head of state it's a major victory for quite a who's been working hard to persuade bennett's whan his armed forces to abandon support for president nicolas maduro let's hear what the general had to say. i'm addressing you today to say that i reject the illegitimate and dictatorial authority of mr nicolas maduro and except one quite go as the president in charge of the boulevard in republic of venezuela ninety percent of the armed forces oppose the dictator and support the venezuelan people. meanwhile that high profile backing comes. as thousands of protesters rallied for fresh demonstrations in the capital. in caracas and elsewhere in venezuela these images show caracas crowded with protest is coming out to support one. i want to call fresh elections has gone an international backing for his claim to be acting president punch of m

the close door opposition leader again called on the military to switch sides just after an air force general became the highest ranking military defector. you know you are hand remained out straight to all government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the on forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully and most respecting the constitution and saying that they accept a minute tarion aid and they are on the side of venezuela the government of the central african republic has struck a peace deal with fourteen armed groups agreement is reached after a week of talks in sudan's capital khartoum and said the deal and five years of violence between muslim rebels and christian fighters which is up proves it more than a million people russia says it's withdrawing from the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty a day after the u.s. said it would stop observing the arms control act washington is accusing moscow of violating the agreement and lea

a high—ranking air force general in the venezualan military has switched his allegiance to the oppositionnd called for others to do the same. earlier our correspondent james reynolds sent this report from the opposition rally. tens of thousands of opposition supporters are coming out to protest in the centre of caracas. the opposition wants to make this one of the biggest demonstrations in this country's history. they are all coming through here. they will end up looking at the stage there, where they hope to see their leader, juan guaido, the 35—year—old head of the national assembly who has declared himself the interim president of venezuela. and for these protesters, for the first time there is a sense of optimism, because they now find they have someone they can call their leader. mr guaido has been recognised by a number of countries in the west. but this movement still faces significant problems. president maduro, their enemy, their opponent, still controls the country. the high command of the armed forces is still loyal to the president, and government forces are celebrating their

thank you very much for joining us a high ranking venezuelan air force general has broken ranks with esident nicolas maduro he says he now recognizes opposition leader one as interim head of state and a video posted to social media general francisco esteban yet. called on members of the military to follow his lead he is the first active venezuelan general to publicly back since he proclaimed himself president last month general yanez is head of strategic planning with the air force of the air force so is still loyal to nicholas maduro and to it is this in response we could not have a. expected less from the traitor division general francisco esteban rodriguez nephew of general yanis mendez who by the way is being investigated by the controller general for corruption has always never traitors meanwhile there's a mass demonstration right now in caracas called by the opposition leader. tens of thousands of anti-government protesters are demanding nicolas maduro his resignation and is also a huge rival protest in support of the president let's bring in latin america at its end to see a ne

again called on the military to switch sides just after an air force general became the highest ranking military defector. a peace deal has been reached between the central african republic government and more than a dozen on groups the agreement was struck after a week of talks in sudan's capital khartoum and russia says it's withdrawing from the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty day after the u.s. said it would stop serving the arms control that washington is accusing moscow of violating the agreement. now the battle to remove ourselves from one of its last pockets in northern syria has displaced tens of thousands of people u.s. backed kurdish forces have been fighting the group in their resume the un refugee agency is calling for a transit side for civilians fleeing to hold becomes populations tripled in the past two months. meanwhile in the south of syria tens of thousands of people are trapped at the camp calling on the un to provide a safe perches passage to rebel controlled areas in the north where the camp is essentially in a no man's land where the borders of syria jorda

helo a high ranking venezuelan air force general has broken ranks with president nicolas maduro he says he now recognizes the opposition leader one quite so interim head of states so in a video posted to social media general francisco esteban yan as rodriguez called on members of the military to follow his leads he's the first active and as well in general to publicly back quite though since he proclaimed himself president last month general younis is head of strategic planning with the air force so the air force still loyal to nicolas maduro tweeted this in response we could not have expected less from the traitor division general francisco esteban yanez rodriguez nephew of the corrupt general yanez mendez by the way is being investigated by the comptroller general for corruption hash tag always loyal never traitors are latin america editor of the cinema is joining us from caracas a correct us how significant is this defection. mean this is a big development as you can. imagine this video viral on the in its way that it is as you say the first time the high ranking general has publicly

earlier today a high ranking air force general declared allegiance to opposition leader. it's a major victory for glyde zero who has been working hard to persuade venezuela's armed forces to abandon president nicolas maduro let's hear a bit what the general had to say. i'm addressing you today to say that i reject the illegitimate and dictatorial authority of mr nicolas maduro and except one quite do as the president in charge of the boulevard republic of venezuela ninety percent of the armed forces oppose the dictator and support the venezuelan people. let's go straight out to the venezuelan capital caracas where did you correspondent oscar schlanger is standing by for us an oscar can you tell us a bit more about this general statement could this be the beginning of the end for president. well that's what many opposition thanks so he can this will be the domino effect on the armed forces he cares if there are serious allegations that is general in the aviation division sense including that ninety percent of the military is against the dictatorship of nicolas mahut as he s

and yes yesterday we heard the venezuelan air force general declaring support for why do so what's going to happen is majority about to lose this key support for the military is playing a poker game he still has a strong hand on the military. say what we have seen right now is a high command but he has no troops just a hand on the troops yes they hung on the trigger people are dying. in the last few weeks and so. the military is still on the moderate side we have to see how long this continues well it seems like there are quite a lot of people at the pro rallies so i suppose he does still even have backing from people within venezuela but you know why do people continue to support him and dura in light of this horrible economic crisis food shortages as we've been saying medicine shortages why does majoris still have that support well what we've seen in the images in the military participating so i think when you are to wave a flag and you are there you have to be there that's what we've seen pictures of very tricky you know and the supporting this is kind of what he received from the leg

to hold on to power is the support of the military and just yesterday we heard a venezuelan air force general declaring his support for the opposition leader one why do so is this the beginning of the end for mature oh. well honestly we cannot know it's just a poker game mother row has the military this was one command and troops and so is more of a sign but it's pieces falling falling down from from his regime. what one way though is trying to is to get support from the military that's very decisive it's very important if this humanitarian aid is coming how the military will behave but why go has no power is just a transitional piece hopefully is just incisional according to the constitution and mother were is holding on to the military in the military still holding on to mother if you sold this protest we've seen the pictures right now you see in the supporting of mother were lots of military did this are commanded troops going to the. demonstrations so there's no real people backing whether we're you have some. measure on the how much support he has and it's about fifteen twenty percent so

iraq the fact of the queues in my drawer of violating the constitution that is his right on air force general and the air force . military trash in washington no military trash in washington is gone how long can you hold the view doesn't depend on that i mean a president doesn't hold or doesn't hold on because of. contrary ask them or like them or not he's impoverished the country and he subject to the massive repression i remember in two thousand and two. there was a gun temple similar and not as radical and open as the one that is happening right now but actually at the time let me just recall you forward in support are nationally one hundred and thirty five high ranking military. actually said that they didn't recognize president challenged as the president of the country and presidents have as good in power until two thousand and thirteen a head up so when you when you said to military one ambassador that's their opinions that doesn't make democracy i mean whenever you want to put your views before you have elections to do it and we had it made last year and the majority of the people i r

government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the armed forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully and most respecting the constitution and saying that they accept military aid and they are on the side of venezuela at least sales been agreed aimed at ending six years of fighting between muslims and christians in central african republic government leaders struck the deal with fourteen armed groups after a week of talks in sudan by the united nations and the african union democratic democratic republic of congo's opposition leader martin for supporters to stop what he calls peaceful resistance play last the presidential election in december he says it was reg's. a strain sending the last child refugees held in the remote detention center to the united states four children will be resettled with their families under a deal struck with the obama administration astray it will now stop sending children to the detention center on th

thank you for joining us a high ranking venezuelan air force general has broken ranks with president nicolas maduro he says he now recognizes opposition leader one guy joe as interim head of state in a video posted to social media general francisco esteban yanez sword regas called on members of the military to follow his lead is a first active in his will in general to publicly back why do since he proclaimed himself president last month general jaan is is head of strategic planning with the air force and the air force is still loyal to nicolas maduro and tweeted this in response we could not have expected less strong the traitor division general francisco esteban yanez retrieve his nephew of general yanez mendez who by the way he's being investigated by the kontrol a general for corruption always loyal never trade his meanwhile there's a mass demonstration in caracas called by opposition leader one guy jill tens of thousands of anti-government protesters are demanding maduro's resignation there's also a huge rival protest in support of the president a latin america it's a new see and

of protests white oak called on more members of the military to defect after a high ranking air force general recognized him as interim head of state.

just hours earlier an air force general defected the first top ranking officer to do so since wide all offered them an amnesty a stinging blow. at the military's of oil is crucial to his political survival. this is. on the other side of president gathered his supporters. never give in to pressure from the servants of the u.s. empire as he calls the opposition one of the rejects demands for a new presidential elections he's offering an alternative. i agree that the legislature should be religious by the country and that we hold free elections with guarantees and may the people decide on the national assembly. what opponents want is for maduro to go self proclaimed interim president announced his next move the imminent arrival to the border and humanitarian aid for than israel is most needy i say that earlier al jazeera asked him if he thought the army would defy muddle and allow the aid to cross into that israel and from neighboring colombia and brazil. that is i hope that the patriot to serve in soldiers who respect the constitution will withdraw the support of murder and give it to th

of protests white oak called on more members of the military to defect after a high ranking air force general recognized him as interim head of state. i announce my candidacy for prez united states congresswoman tulsi gabbert has declared her candidacy for the twenty twenty president.

of protests white oak called on more members of the military to defect after a high ranking air force general recognized him as interim head of state. i announce my candidacy for president i did states congresswoman tulsi gabbard has declared her candidacy for the twenty twenty presidential.

of protests white oak called on more members of the military to defect after a high ranking air force general recognized him as interim head of state. the central african republic has reached a peace deal with fourteen armed groups after several days of talks the first ever direct.

air force general yanez rodriguez says he's backing the opposition, and claimed that 90% of the armede him, have lost faith in maduro. maduro still has his supporters, and they staged a counter- demonstration today in caracas, but a new poll says they are decidedly in the minority. after years of economic decay, corruption, and violence, the polls show that 82% of venezuelans want maduro to quit. if he does-- and it's still a"ie juan guaido will succeed him. the u.s. already recognizes guaido as interim president, and at the protest, he announced two more big rallies in the coming days to keep the pressure on. to the people in this crowd, victory feels tantalizingly close. is today different? >> it is, because there's hope. we-- we've been heard all around hee world, and we know that we have the support we didn't have before. we've been in the streets for many, many times, and now we feel like we're supported by the wot of the world. >> reporter: and in what could be a decisive move in this power struggle, juan guaido and his stllow lawmakers have drafted amnesty legislation, which wo

there's also been some talk from the government, last year especially, from a retired air force general about a national government 5g network. this all gets back to security, ch concerns about china. what do you see about possibilities between private/public partnership in building a 5g network? is some kind of national 5g network that the white house and dod and homeland security use a possibility? what are the security concerns here? >> i mean, obviously i don't influence the government significantly, but i think as an entrepreneur, you know, i very much believe in more capitalism and the private sector. i do believe in making sure there's sufficient competition, which i think the government is doing a very good job and watching very carefully ifccurn much. i get too involved, the efficiency tends to go down. >> to heather's point about out, i know huawei is a big concern to the u.s. government. can we do national 5g without huawei? >> absolutely. there are traditional other vendors like nokia who have been in the mobile space forever. now because huawei is getting backed out of a lo

in recent developments, high—ranking air force general has effectively disavowed president nicolas maduroan guaido as the interim head of state. he posted a video which was circulating on twitter. he said, i am general francesco. . ., director twitter. he said, i am general francesco..., director of twitter. he said, i am general francesco. . ., director of strategic planning of the high force air command. i inform you that i don't accept the dictatorial authority of nicolas maduro. i recognise the difficultyjuan guaido is the acting president of the republic of venezuela. he goes on to say, people of israel, 90% of the armed forces are not with the dictator, they are with the people of venezuela. —— people of venezuela. they claim that he isa people of venezuela. they claim that he is a traitor. we are watching this very closely in caracas, crabs are expected to build. the march is expected to kick of from one o'clock local time in caracas. more on less as we get it. the opposition leader, juan guaido, has been speaking ahead of these projects. translation: i don't fear clashes at all. i

thought of those you know use a hand remained outstretched to all government workers like the air force general who today took advantage of the amnesty law and put it into effect but we don't expect the forces to just make statements we don't expect just that we expect that they will stand up forcefully and powerfully and most respecting the constitution and saying that they accept minute tarion aid and they are on the side of venezuela . peace deals being agreed aimed at ending six years of fighting between muslims and christians in central african republic government leaders struck the deal with fourteen groups after a week of talks in sudan backed by the united nations and the african union. democratic republic of congo's opposition leader mohsin fire lewis urging supporters to start what he calls peaceful resistance play they lost the presidential election in december he says it was riggs. is to send as last remaining child refugees held in remote immigration comes to the united states four children will be resettled with their families under a deal struck with the obama administration the

just hours earlier an air force general defected. the first top ranking officer to do so since wide all offered them an amnesty a stinging blow. at the military's of oil is crucial to his political survival. this is. on the other side of president gathered his supporters. never give in to pressure from the servants of the u.s. empire as he calls the opposition one of the rejects demands for a new presidential election he's offering an alternative. i agree that the legislature should be religious by the country and that we hold free elections with guarantees and may the people decide on the national assembly. want is for my. self proclaimed interim president announced his next move the imminent arrival to the border of humanitarian aid for venezuela's most needy i say that earlier al jazeera asked him if he would. allow the aid to cross into venezuela from neighboring colombia and brazil. i hope that the patriot takes over in soldiers who respect the constitution will withdraw the support of majority and give it to the people of venez

a venezuelan air force general, the first high-ranking officer to back juan guaido since he was declared interim president saying the transition to democracy is imminent. guaido, who's promised amnesty to military and security forces, not guilty of serious crimes today calling for more defections, saying -- "we don't just want you to stop shooting at protesters. we want you to be a part of venezuela's reconstruction." across town his rival, president maduro held his own major rally, calling for elections that would increase his grip on power despite strong u.s.-led sanctions, he's refusing to step down. telling the crowd, "the american government threatens us every day. we do not want a new vietnam," adding, "we are ready to defend our homeland." but the people i met on the streets also vowing they won't back down. >> sometimes military action has to be taken to get to a better chances, and better good, the greater good, the way americans say it, it might be the right time. >> reporter: tom, we're seeing signs that u.s. sanctions and the seizing of bank accounts are really starting to bi

just hours earlier an air force general defected the first top ranking officer to do so since why the offered them an amnesty a stinging blow who knows that the military's voile t. is crucial to his political survival. instinct. was this it. was. going to be. on the other side of president gathered his supporters he's vowed to never give in to pressure from servants of the us empire as he calls the opposition but one of the rejects demands for a new presidential elections he's offering an alternative. i agree but the legislature should be religious by by the country and that we hold free elections with guarantees and may the people decide on the national assembly. would opponents want is for my brutal to go self proclaimed interim president announced his next move the imminent arrival to the border of humanitarian aid for than israel is most needy i say that earlier al jazeera asked him if. the army would defy muddle and allow the aid to cross into that israel and from neighboring colombia and brazil. that is i hope that the patriot to serve in soldiers who respect the constitution wi

today an air force general defected from the maduro government. the situation growing more dire by the day. just this week more than 800 people were arrested. >> this moment we have people in the streets fighting for our liberty right now. >> reporter: it's a fight they're rallying for in the u.s., waiting for the day when they can finally return to venezuela. >> we are dreaming just to show our country to our kids. >> reporter: hoping for the day it's safe to return home. mariana atencio, nbc news, doral, florida. >>> here in new york, protests today over conditions at a federal jail where inmates and workers say they've had to endure freezing conditions this week. the government is blaming a power outage that it says will be fixed by monday. but as nbc's kathy park reports, that news is providing very little comfort. >> reporter: heated rhetoric outside the federal jail in brooklyn. protesting what some say are freezing conditions on the other side of these walls. >> it's ludicrous. it's disgusting. >> reporter: workers say they've gone without

the protests come as a senior air force general published a video on twitter saying he refused to recogniseduro as president and was instead backing the opposition leaderjuan guaido — who's declared himself interim president. the governing socialist party announced a rival protest in the city, to counter the opposition march. our correspondent james reynolds is in caracas and sent this report from the protests. tens of thousands of opposition supporters are coming out to protest in the centre of caracas. the opposition wants to make this one of the biggest demonstrations in this country's history. they are coming through here. they will end up looking at the stage there, where they hope to see their leader, juan guaido, the 35 year head of the national assembly who has declared himself the interim president of venezuela. and for these protesters, for the first time there is a sense of optimism because they now find they have someone they can call their leader. juan guaido has been recognised by a number of countries in the west. but this movement still faces significant problems. president