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Can Maduro hold onto power in Venezuela? We discuss LIVE now on @AJEnglish and YouTube. 
@AJEnglish The political crisis in Venezuela is reaching boiling point as President Nicolas Maduro battles opposition leader Juan Guaido for power.
@AJEnglish Over the weekend, violent protests broke out in towns along Venezuela’s border with Colombia and Brazil. At least two people were killed, according to officials in Colombia, as many as 285 were wounded.
@AJEnglish The clashes began after Venezuelan troops blocked US aid convoys - which Maduro sees as an attempt to undermine his government - from entering the country.
@AJEnglish Venezuela suffers from hyperinflation and food and medicine shortages. According to the UN, three million people have fled the country, most since 2015.
@AJEnglish With us today is former deputy of foreign affairs @temirporras, @CaracasChron blogger @emiduarte and @nytimes reporter @AKurmanaev.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev Can Maduro hold onto power in Venezuela? Join our live discussion right now! Tweet us your thoughts.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "It was a scene of terror," says @emiduarte about the clashes this past weekend.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "Whatever your views are on the government of Maduro, you can not ignore the fact that there is a regime change policy in motion that has been unfolded form the US. And this so called humanitarian mission was part of a move to generate a crisis," says @temirporras.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "It's important to point out that there is a very clear collusion between the violence generated by the paramilitary groups and government security forces who's last job it was to protect the people of Venezuela," says @emiduarte.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "You have the cocktail for a civil conflict in Venezuela," says @temirporras.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "Foreign invasion is always a fringe affair in Venezuela... Support for intervention is definitely growing. You see people that have been so beaten down by the economic crisis," says @AKurmanaev.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "The room for peaceful negotiation, the room for peaceful transition... is shrinking day by day because of the actions of both sides," says @AKurmanaev.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "Once and again, dialogue and negotiation have been used to buy time and to perpetuate the Maduro regime in power to the determinant of Venezuelan people who are dying of hunger everyday," says @emiduarte.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev "The urgent priority now is to depoliticize the aid effort and for the US government that’s going to mean separating its political aims for Venezuela from its support to the humanitarian response," says @JeremyKonyndyk via video comment.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev @JeremyKonyndyk "Most of the blame has to lay on Maduro, he still refuses to recognize that there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela despite all the evidence... So how can you depoliticize an argument when one of the sides says everything is absolutely fine?" says @AKurmanaev.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev @JeremyKonyndyk "The hope for all Venezuelans is that a peaceful transition can happen and that we can have free and fair elections, the vast majority of Venezuelans have been supporting this movement in the hopes that they can take back their future," says @emiduarte.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev @JeremyKonyndyk "The violence perpetrated throughout this entire weekend and in days prior is entirely the fault of the government," says @emiduarte.
@AJEnglish @temirporras @CaracasChron @emiduarte @nytimes @AKurmanaev @JeremyKonyndyk Many thanks to our guests @emiduarte, @temirporras and @AKurmanaev. If you missed today’s show, you can watch the full episode here:
