Venezuela Opposition to Face Off With Maduro at Colombian Border

U.S.-backed rivals to government plan to deliver tons of aid they hope will divide a military that supports the president, who vows to halt the incursion.

Venezuela’s U.S.-backed opposition is preparing for a showdown with President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, when it will try to bring tons of medicine and humanitarian aid into the country in an effort to sow division among the armed forces keeping the autocrat in power.

Mr. Maduro has vowed to stop the aid, which he has condemned as a thinly veiled, U.S.-backed coup attempt. He has used container trucks to block one border bridge here and reinforced the Colombian frontier with troops and hundreds of police from a unit with a reputation for deadly crackdowns.

“The most important day in the last 20 years is coming,” Gaby Arellano, a Venezuelan lawmaker exiled in Colombia, said at a news conference Thursday. “I’m not inviting you to another protest march. I’m inviting you to open the doors of Venezuela.”

Adding a dramatic note will be dueling musical concerts on both sides of the border scheduled for Friday. One has been organized by billionaire Richard Branson to raise funds for Venezuelan relief, while the other is counter programming organized by Mr. Maduro’s government.

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