CARACAS, March 4. /TASS/. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido may appear at a rally in Caracas on Friday right after he returns to the country, a source close to Guaido told TASS.

Guaido’s current whereabouts are unknown. He said earlier on Twitter that he was returning to Venezuela though the country’s authorities had warned he would be arrested if he attempted to cross the border.

However, sources familiar with the situation told TASS that Guaido could secretly cross the border in hard-to-access areas or use a private plane to return to the country. If Guaido makes his first public appearance following his return at a rally involving tens of thousands of his supporters, it would be almost impossible to arrest him.

Crisis in Venezuela

On January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas

Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.