CARACAS, Venezuela — The struggle for control of Venezuela turned to the military Sunday, with supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaido handing leaflets to soldiers detailing a proposed amnesty law that would protect them for helping overthrow President Nicolas Maduro.

At the same time, Maduro demonstrated his might, wearing tan fatigues at military exercises. Flanked by his top brass, Maduro watched heavy artillery fired into a hillside and boarded an amphibious tank.

Addressing soldiers in an appearance on state TV, Maduro asked whether they were plotting with the “imperialist” United States, which he accused of openly leading a coup against him.

“No, my commander-in-chief,” they shouted in unison, and Maduro responded: “We’re ready to defend our homeland – under any circumstance.”

The dueling appeals from the two rivals again put the military center stage in the global debate over who holds a legitimate claim to power in the South American nation.

The standoff has plunged troubled Venezuela into a new chapter of political turmoil that has already left more than two dozen dead as thousands took to the streets demanding Maduro step down. Guaido is calling for two new mass mobilizations over the next week.

The tumult erupted when Guaido, the 35-year-old leader of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress, declared before masses of supporters last week that he has temporarily assumed presidential powers, vowing to hold free elections and end Maduro’s dictatorship.

President Donald Trump and several foreign leaders quickly recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, prompting Maduro to cut ties with the U.S. and order its diplomats from Caracas within 72 hours. The U.S. defied him, saying Maduro isn’t the legitimate president, and Maduro relented, suspending the deadline for 30 days for the sake of opening a dialogue.

Venezuela’s crisis came before the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, which took no formal action because of divisions among members. Russia and China back Maduro. But France and Britain joined Spain and Germany in turning up the pressure on Maduro, saying they would recognize Guaido as president unless Venezuela calls a new presidential election within eight days.

“Where do you get that you have the power to establish a deadline or an ultimatum to a sovereign people?” said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza. “It’s almost childlike.”

Venezuela’s armed forces remain the key to Maduro’s hold on power, firing tear gas and bullets on protesters, killing more than two dozen since Wednesday.

Guaido is urging Venezuelans to exit their homes, offices or wherever they may be on Wednesday for a peaceful, two-hour mid-day protest. He is also asking followers to take to the streets again Saturday for demonstrations “in every corner” of the nation and around the globe. That protest is timed to coincide with the European Union deadline for announcing a new election.

“We’re advancing well, Venezuela,” Guaido said in his broadcast, streamed live on the internet. “We’ve restored hope.”

In light of the ongoing unrest, the Caribbean Professional Baseball Leagues Confederation announced Sunday that organizers decided to not to hold an upcoming tournament in Venezuela. The Caribbean Series will instead be held at alternate yet-to-be-announced venue. The decision came a day after Venezuela Sports Minister Pedro Infante made a plea for the series to take place as planned in Barquisimeto, saying the government would guarantee the safety of players.

On Sunday, Guaido’s supporters made their case directly to soldiers, handing them leaflets that urged they reject the socialist leader and explaining how they could be eligible for amnesty if they help return Venezuela to democracy.

In Paraiso, an area of Caracas where residents and the National Guard violently clashed, opposition lawmaker Ivlev Silva, his hands raised over his head, walked up to a line of soldiers wearing riot gear and holding shields.

“The people of Venezuela believe in each one of you,” Silva said, handing them the leaflets. Their commander responded that they were defending the Bolivarian revolution and support Maduro.

Similar scenes took place at military bases across Caracas, where one soldier burned his leaflet and another man threw a stack of them out a door, rejecting the opposition’s plea.

In claiming presidential powers, Guaido said he was acting in accordance with two articles of the constitution that give the National Assembly president the right to hold power temporarily and call new elections.

Emerging from Sunday Mass, where he honored those killed and arrested in the recent protests, Guaido called on the armed forces not to shoot fellow Venezuelans.

“We are waiting for you and the commitment you have to our constitution,” Guaido said. “Don’t shoot at those who have come out to defend your family, your work and livelihood.”

He also vowed to crack down on those responsible for the killings, which he called a “massacre,” saying in a Twitter post that he wanted to bring international attention to members of the armed forces, prosecutors and judges linked to the recent deaths.

The Trump administration has maintained that all options remain open if Maduro refuses to cede leadership, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“I don’t think any president of any party who is doing his or her job would be doing the job properly if they took anything off the table,” he said. “So, I think the president of the United States is looking at this extraordinarily closely.

Story: Scott Smith, Fabiola Sanchez

BRUMADINHO, Brazil — Brazilian rescue crews returned to mud-covered flats Sunday to resume the search for hundreds of people missing in the wake of a dam collapse after the operation was suspended for several hours over fears that a second dam was at risk of breach.

The Civil Defense office in Minais Gerais state raised the confirmed death toll to 58, with up to 300 people still missing following the avalanche of iron ore waste from a mine Friday.

Earlier Sunday, authorities stopped the search and evacuated several neighborhoods in the southeastern city of Brumadinho that were within range of the second B6 dam owned by the Brazilian mining company Vale. An estimated 24,000 people were told to get to higher ground, but by the afternoon civil engineers said the second dam was no longer at risk.

“Get out searching!” a woman yelled at firefighters near a refugee set up in the center of Brumadinho. “They could be out there in the bush.”

Areas of water-soaked mud appeared to be drying out, which could help firefighters get to areas previously unreachable. Late Sunday, more than 100 Israeli soldiers and other personnel arrived with plans to join rescue and recovery efforts Monday.

Even before the brief suspension of rescue efforts, hope that loved ones had survived a tsunami of iron ore mine waste from Friday’s dam collapse was turning to anguish and anger over the increasing likelihood that many of the missing had died.

There was also mounting anger at Vale and questions about an apparent lack of an alarm system Friday.

Caroline Steifeld, who was evacuated, said she heard warning sirens Sunday, but no such alert on the day the dam collapsed.

“I only heard shouting, people saying to get out. I had to run with my family to get to higher ground, but there was no siren,” she said, adding that a cousin was still unaccounted for.

Several others made similar complaints when interviewed by The Associated Press. In an email, Vale told the AP that the area has eight sirens in the area, but “the speed in which the event happened made sounding an alarm impossible” in the dam that collapsed.

“I’m angry. There is no way I can stay calm,” Sonia Fatima da Silva said as she tried to get information about her son, who had worked at Vale for 20 years. “My hope is that they be honest. I want news, even if it’s bad.”

Da Silva said she last spoke to her son before he went to work Friday, when around midday a dam holding back mine waste collapsed, sending waves of mud for kilometers (miles) and burying much in its path.

She was one of dozens of people in Brumadinho who desperately awaited word on their loved ones.

Romeu Zema, the governor of Minas Gerais state, said that by now most recovery efforts will entail pulling out bodies.

The flow of waste reached the nearby community of Vila Ferteco and an occupied Vale administrative office. It buried buildings to their rooftops and an extensive field of the mud cut off roads.

Some residents barely escaped with their lives.

“I saw all the mud coming down the hill, snapping the trees as it descended. It was a tremendous noise,” said a tearful Simone Pedrosa, from the neighborhood of Parque Cachoeira, 5 miles (8 kilometers) from where the dam collapsed.

Pedrosa, 45, and her parents dashed to their car and drove to the highest point in the neighborhood.

“If we had gone down the other direction, we would have died,” Pedrosa said.

“I cannot get that noise out of my head,” she said. “It’s a trauma … I’ll never forget.”

In addition to the dead, 23 people were hospitalized, according to the Minas Gerais fire department. There had been some signs of hope earlier Saturday when authorities found 43 more people alive.

For many, hope was evaporating.

“I don’t think he is alive,” said Joao Bosco, speaking of his cousin, Jorge Luis Ferreira, who worked for Vale. “Right now, I can only hope for a miracle.”

Vanilza Sueli Oliveira described the wait for news of her nephew as “distressing, maddening.”

“Time is passing,” she said. “It’s been 24 hours already. … I just don’t want to think that he is under the mud.”

The rivers of mining waste also raised fears of widespread environmental contamination and degradation.

According to Vale’s website, the waste is composed mostly of sand and is non-toxic. However, a U.N. report found that the waste from a similar disaster in 2015 “contained high levels of toxic heavy metals.”

Over the weekend, state courts and the justice ministry in the state of Minas Gerais froze about USD$3 billion from Vale assets for state emergency services and told the company to report on how they would help the victims.

Neither the company nor authorities had reported why the dam failed, but Attorney General Raquel Dodge promised to investigate it, saying “someone is definitely at fault.” Dodge noted there are 600 mines in the state of Minas Gerais alone that are classified as being at risk of rupture.

Another dam administered by Vale and Australian mining company BHP Billiton collapsed in 2015 in the city of Mariana in the same state of Minas Gerais, resulting in 19 deaths and forcing hundreds from their homes. Considered the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history, it left 250,000 people without drinking water and killed thousands of fish. An estimated 60 million cubic meters of waste flooded nearby rivers and eventually flowed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Sueli de Oliveira Costa, who hadn’t heard from her husband since Friday, had harsh words for the mining company.

“Vale destroyed Mariana and now they’ve destroyed Brumadinho,” she said.

The Folia de S.Paulo newspaper reported Saturday that the dam’s mining complex was issued an expedited license to expand in December due to “decreased risk.” Conservation groups in the area alleged that the approval was unlawful.

On Twitter, new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said his government would do everything it could to “prevent more tragedies” like Mariana and now Brumadinho.

The far-right leader campaigned on promises to jump-start Brazil’s economy, in part by deregulating mining and other industries.

Environmental groups and activists said the latest spill underscored the lack of environmental regulation in Brazil, and many promised to fight any further deregulation.

Marina Silva, a former environmental minister and presidential candidate, said such tragedies should be deemed “heinous crimes,” and that Congress should bear part of the blame for not toughening regulations and enforcement.

Story: Marcelo Silva De Sousa, Peter Prengaman

WARSAW, Poland — Former prisoners of Auschwitz have placed flowers at an execution wall at the former Nazi German death camp on the 74th anniversary of the camp’s liberation and what is now International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The survivors wore striped scarves that recalled their uniforms, some with the red letter “P,” the symbol the Germans used to mark them as Poles.

Early in World War II, most prisoners were Poles, rounded up by the occupying German forces. Later, Auschwitz was transformed into a mass killing site for Jews, Roma and others.

A ceremony is planned later Sunday near the ruins of the gas chambers to honor the 1.1 million people killed there and all Holocaust victims, one of several worldwide observances.

The camp was liberated by Soviet forces on Jan. 27, 1945.