Venezuela's embattled opposition vowed to overcome "fear" and thwart Nicolas Maduro's plans to be sworn in for another term, with defiant leaders renewing calls for mass protests and visiting the White House to rally international support.
Mr Maduro has ruled the oil-rich nation for over a decade since the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez, retaining an iron grip on power with the help of police, paramilitaries and the armed forces.
On Friday, Mr Maduro is to be sworn in for a third six-year term, after pushing aside allegations he stole a July election from now-exiled opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who claims to have won in a landslide.
Ex-diplomat Mr Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, visited the White House yesterday, meeting outgoing US President Joe Biden in a last-gasp effort to pressure Mr Maduro into ceding power.
The White House said Mr Biden and Mr Gonzalez Urrutia agreed that his "campaign victory should be honoured through a peaceful transfer back to democratic rule."
There was also a warning from the US that Mr Biden would be "closely" following the regime's response to protests planned on Thursday, the eve of Mr Maduro's investiture.
"Venezuelans should be allowed to express their political opinions peacefully without fear of reprisal from the military and police," the White House said.
Venezuela promptly labelled Mr Biden's support for the opposition "grotesque", as it severed diplomatic ties with Paraguay for expressing similar support for the opposition.
Call to 'overcome fear'
With security forces now deployed across the Venezuelan capital Caracas - a clear warning to would-be protestors - there are growing fears that Thursday's demonstrations could bring violent reprisals.
But opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado told AFP that Venezuelans must overcome their fear and go onto the streets to claim their freedom.
"All the regime has left is fear," Ms Machado told AFP in a telephone interview while still in hiding inside Venezuela.
The "whole world knows" that the rightful president-elect is Mr Gonzalez Urrutia, she said.
"If we all come out, millions, how can a few hundred or a few thousand armed people (prevail) against 30 million Venezuelans?
"In the end, the only way to be free is to overcome fear," she added.
But it is unclear whether Venezuelans, wearied by decades of economic crisis and fearful of regime vengeance, can be persuaded again to demonstrate in large numbers.
More than 20 people were killed and nearly 200 wounded in rioting that followed Mr Maduro's claim of election victory in July.
Another 2,400 people were arrested in the crackdown, with authorities saying this week that about 1,500 had since been freed.
The Maduro government has vowed to deal harshly with future protests and threatened to jail Mr Gonzalez Urrutia if he makes good on a promise to return to Venezuela this week.
'Loyalty, obedience' to Maduro
Mr Gonzalez Urrutia first met leaders in Argentina and Uruguay before continuing his international tour to the United States.
In addition to his sit-down with Mr Biden, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia said he had spoken "at length" with Mike Waltz, a congressman tapped by US President-elect Donald Trump to be his national security advisor.
The two discussed the 9 January protests, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia said on X, and Mr Waltz "assured us that the United States, and the world, will be alert to what happens in our country."
On Sunday, the ex-diplomat called for the Venezuelan military to recognise him as commander-in-chief, seeking to undermine a key plank of Mr Maduro's support.
But his appeal was "categorically" rejected a day later in a statement read on TV by Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, who reiterated the armed forces' "loyalty, obedience and subordination" to Mr Maduro.
Venezuela recently passed a law punishing support for sanctions against the Maduro regime with up to 30 years in prison.
More than seven million of once-wealthy Venezuela's 30 million citizens have emigrated since Mr Maduro first came to power in 2013.
