Footage shows armored vehicle ramming into Venezuelan protesters. The White House says it was the ‘Maduro Regime.’

Violent clashes erupted in the capital, where thousands of protesters swarmed the streets and forces loyal to President Nicolás Maduro responded with force. (Video: Reuters)

As clashes broke out in Venezuela on Tuesday, footage emerged of an armored vehicle plowing into a crowd of protesters in the streets of Caracas.

The video shows what appears to be four armored vehicles on a multilane road in the capital.

People are swarming the streets when one of the vehicles suddenly cuts across multiple lanes, drives over a median and hits some protesters. Some of the other vehicles also move about erratically, and one of them appears to catch on fire.

The Washington Post could not confirm who was driving the vehicles. But on Twitter, the White House posted the footage and placed the blame squarely on President Nicolás Maduro. “This is the corrupt, illegitimate Maduro Regime,” the tweet said.

President Trump’s administration has stood firmly behind opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who on Tuesday appeared in a video that featured him at a military base in the capital calling on Venezuelan troops to join him in the movement to oust Maduro.

White House national security adviser John Bolton said “all options are on the table” when it comes to Venezuela but the United States seeks a “peaceful transfer of power.”

Some countries that back Maduro have called the Tuesday developments a “coup.”

This is the corrupt, illegitimate Maduro Regime. pic.twitter.com/79sFbYrzOp

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 30, 2019

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