Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Venezuela at the UN headquarters in New York Feb. 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for "maximum restraint" in Venezuela to avoid violence and restore calm.
"The secretary-general urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint and he appeals to all stakeholders to avoid any violence and take immediate steps to restore calm," Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a daily briefing.
The UN chief is following the latest developments in Venezuela with concern, and the United Nations is reaching out to the parties, said the spokesman.
He said the good offices of the secretary-general are available should the parties request them.
Venezuelan media reported that opposition leader Juan Guaido showed up early Tuesday morning along with some military personnel outside La Carlota aviation military base in the east of the capital city of Caracas.
Guaido called on civilians and military to act against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. He also tweeted that "the end of the usurpation began, and at this moment I am meeting with the main military units of our armed forces, beginning the final phase of Operation Freedom."
In response, Maduro tweeted that military commanders from all regions and defense areas of the country have "expressed their loyalty to the people, the Constitution and the country."
