Brazil president: Intervention in Venezuela near-zero

SAO PAULO, Brazil

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said speculation his country’s military would join armed intervention in Venezuela is very slim.

"I can not say that the hypothesis of participating an armed intervention into Venezuela is zero. But it is near-zero," Bolsonaro told reporters late Tuesday.

He did leave open the possibility of his country’s soil being used to stage an operation in Venezuela when he said if the U.S. wants to use Brazil's territory for the intervention, "I will consult this with Brazil's National Defense Council and decide."

"Brazil is closely following the situation in Venezuela and reaffirms its support for the democratic transition taking place in the neighboring country," he wrote on Twitter.

His remarks came after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido released a video on Twitter in which he could be seen alongside a small contingent of uniformed military personnel and armored vehicles calling for an uprising to end the "usurpation" of President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaido said it was the beginning of the final phase of "Operation Liberty" to oust Maduro.

"The National Armed Forces have made the correct decision. They have the support of the Venezuelan people," Guaido said.

He also called on Venezuelans to take to the streets to support the "democratic forces" and "recover the country's freedom.”

Venezuela has been in the throes of humanitarian and economic crises amid the political deadlock between Guaido and Maduro as Washington has ramped up diplomatic and economic pressure on Maduro in a bid to get him to relinquish power, including sanctioning his state-run oil company.

*Writing by Faruk Zorlu