Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Daily Mail: Russia sends 'around 400' mercenaries to Venezuela to protect President Maduro as US diplomats and their families flee the country
* US diplomats headed for airport amid power struggle between President Maduro and opposition leader
* Juan Guaido declared himself interim President before slipping away amid speculation he would be arrested
* Trump recognised him as leader and threatened military action but the Kremlin has stood by Nicolas Maduro
* US President has openly mused about military intervention in Venezuela, saying 'all options are on the table'
* Top military chiefs have expressed loyalty to Maduro who was re-elected in disputed poll in May last year
* Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Caracas and around the country during protests this week
US diplomats are heading to the airport in Caracas amid reports of the arrival of 400 Russian mercenaries flown in to support President Nicolas Maduro against an opposition leader who wants to replace him.
A letter from a US embassy security officer requesting a police escort for a caravan of 10 vehicles was leaked earlier in the day and published on social media by a journalist for state-owned TV network Telesur. Its authenticity was confirmed by a US source.
A defiant Mr Maduro called all Venezuelan diplomats home from the US and closed its embassy in Washington on Thursday, a day after ordering all US diplomats out of the country by the weekend.
That followed President Donald Trump's decision to support the claim to power by opposition leader Juan Guaido.
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Update: Exclusive: Kremlin-linked contractors help guard Venezuela's Maduro - sources -- Reuters
WNU Editor: My one source in Caracas has been telling me for the past year that there are hundreds of Cuban security personnel in the Venezuelan capital. I do not know if this is true, but one of my Russian sources confirmed to me that this Reuters story of Russian military contractors being in Venezuela s true. As to the number of russians that are present, he does not know.
