A high stakes bid by the Venezuelan opposition to transport aid into the country turned deadly on Friday as government forces opened fire on a group of indigenous volunteers, killing at least one woman and injuring 12. Members of the indigenous community in the southern town of Kumarakapay, bordering Brazil, on Friday night took the commander of the Venezuelan national guard prisoner in retaliation. Jose Miguel Montoya Rodriguez was being detained by members of the Pemon tribe, following the death of Zoraida Rodriguez in the clashes. The violence cast an ominous shadow over the massive aid delivery planned for Saturday, with hundreds of tonnes of medical supplies destined to be brought across the border from Brazil and Colombia. Juan Guaido, the self-declared “interim president” who has marshalled the hugely symbolic aid delivery, condemned the killing of Rodriguez, and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. On Friday night, following a fundraising concert on the border organised by Sir Richard Branson, thousands of volunteers were preparing to bring the aid into Venezuela, in spite of the threats from President Nicolas Maduro that he would not allow it to pass. Organisers of the show, held on the Tienditas bridge, worked through the night to clear the bridge ahead of the aid caravan. Mr Maduro promised a rival concert on the other side of the bridge, and was reportedly offering $7 million to artists to perform, but by Friday night there was no sign of the show and musician after musician issued statements confirming they had been approached to perform, but turned it down. A caravan of trucks fanned out across Venezuela this week, destined for the border with the intention of loading the aid for distribution at the border points. Four processions will be met on the Venezuelan side by four people appointed by Mr Guaido, whose identity he has kept secret for their own safety. Mr Guaido himself set out from Caracas on Thursday in a procession of lorries towards the border, ready to collect the aid. Gaby Arellano, a 33-year-old opposition MP leading one of the convoys of aid was on Friday defiant about the risks of violence as she prepared to cross the border from the Colombian town of Cucuta. “You know what really frightens me?” she told The Telegraph,. “The fact that my children will continue to suffer. That’s far more terrifying a thought than anything that could happen on the bridge.” Russia, which along with Cuba and China continues to provide a crutch to Mr Maduro’s teetering regime, accused the United States on Friday of using the aid deliveries as a ploy to carry out military action against Mr Maduro's government. Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, said Mr Guaido's plans to try to bring the aid across the border are aimed at provoking clashes to provide "a convenient pretext for conducting military action". Cucuta has four bridges crossing into Venezuela, and the volunteers, told to dress in white, will set out at 9am (2pm GMT) – “not smugglers in the night,” said Jose Manuel Olivares, a 33-year-old doctor-turned-politician, who will on Saturday lead one of the columns. “We will do it by the light of day, with full transparency, because we have nothing to hide.” Freddy Superlano, a deputy for the Chavez family state of Barinas, added: “We’ve thought it all through, with the aid. It’s much more than politics. It’s the survival of the nation.” Mr Guaido insisted that the aid must be allowed to pass, and issued another plea to the soldiers to allow its safe passage. “You must decide on which side you stand, at this decisive hour,” he tweeted on Friday night. “To the soldiers, between tonight and tomorrow you must decide how you want to be remembered. We know you stand with the people. Tomorrow you must show it.”
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