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		</div><p>Venezuela’s president Nicola Maduro oversaw a grand military parade to mark the country’s independence day on Friday, revelling in his might as commander-in-chief as he comes under mounting criticism for using brutal tactics to crush his opponents.</p>
<p>Maduro applauded and pumped his fist as soldiers marched past, tanks rolled by and fighter jets streaked overhead at a Caracas military base.</p>
<p>A unit of camouflaged special forces, guns drawn, shouted their loyalty as they paraded by the presidential reviewing stand.</p>
<p><em>“We look to the heavens, asking for peace,”</em> Maduro said. <em>“All the while our military exercises play out. We plead to God with our missiles pointed.”</em></p>
<p>The parade demonstrated Maduro’s continuing support from the military amid a political standoff with opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is trying to oust Maduro and has the backing of more than 50 nations, including the United States.</p>
<p>Guaido claimed presidential powers in January, drawing masses of supporters into the streets for demonstrations against Maduro, who has overseen the oil-nation’s historic collapse.</p>
<p>More than four million Venezuelans have left the country amid food and medicine shortages and crushing inflation.</p>
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<div id="div-gpt-ad-incontent-2" data-google-query-id="CPPq0Lj4nuMCFcd4wQodtBEGww">As head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Guaido claims that Maduro’s election in 2018 to a second, six-year term is illegitimate because the most popular political figures and parties were banned from running.</div>
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<p>Maduro refuses to step aside, and Guaido has not been able to lure a critical mass of soldiers to back him and overcome Maduro’s rule.</p>
<p>Guaido called on Venezuelans to take to the streets Friday for huge demonstrations marking 208 years since Venezuela won its freedom from Spain.</p>
<p>Thousands had joined him by midday, and they marched toward the headquarters of a military intelligence agency in Caracas, where a day earlier a navy captain opposed to Maduro was tortured to death, according to his wife and attorney.</p>
<p><em>“Today in Venezuela, anyone who continues to support this dictatorship must know that he’s an accomplice to the violation of human rights,”</em> Guaido said, urging the military to join his movement.</p>
<p>In a sign of international repudiation of Maduro, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michele Bachelet, issued a scathing report on Thursday accusing Venezuela’s security forces of nearly 5,300 killings last year.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">ð»ðª <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Venezuela?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Venezuela</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/mbachelet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mbachelet</a> presents the findings of serious <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HumanRights?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HumanRights</a> violations being committed – “The situation is complex. I sincerely hope the authorities will take the recommendations in the constructive spirit in which they are made”: <a href="https://t.co/uEoVhL0eF5">https://t.co/uEoVhL0eF5</a> <a href="https://t.co/zuaG2QcOQQ">pic.twitter.com/zuaG2QcOQQ</a></p>
<p>&mdash; UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1147135885105913856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2019</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Venezuelans interviewed by the human rights workers referred to a particular security unit, FAES, as a “death squad” or “extermination group”.</p>
<p>Maduro’s government has also undermined the rule of law and dismantled democratic institutions, the UN reported.</p>
<p><em>“These measures are aimed at neutralising, repressing and criminalising political opponents and people critical of the government,”</em> the report said.</p>
<p>Deputy foreign minister William Castillo blasted the report, saying it failed to reflect “the reality in our country”.</p>
<p>He demanded the report be corrected and said the government would heed “constructive” and “balanced” recommendations.</p>
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