Venezuela's Guaido visits Ecuador to build pressure on rival

In this photo provided by Ecuador's Presidential Office, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno, center right, and his wife Rocio Gonzalez, right, welcome Venezuela's self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, center left, and his wife Fabiana Rosales during a meeting in Salinas, Ecuador. Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Guaido is in tour of several South American capitals as part of a campaign to build international pressure on his rival Nicolas Maduro to quit. (AP Photo/Ecuador's Presidency)

QUITO, Ecuador – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is in Ecuador as part of a continent-wide campaign to intensify pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to give up power.

Guaido, who recently visited the leaders of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, on Saturday met Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno in the coastal city of Salinas.

Guaido, who the U.S. and 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's rightful president, says he seeks a "peaceful transition" that will allow his homeland to overcome its political and humanitarian crisis.

Last weekend, Guaido coordinated a failed effort to bring aid from Colombia and Brazil into Venezuela, where security forces loyal to Maduro blocked the supplies.

Maduro described Guaido's gambit as part of a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow him.

Moreno says he supports Guaido's attempt to bring "democratic change" to Venezuela.