Opposition supporters react during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday called on the country’s military to maintain unity and discipline, after the leader of the opposition-controlled congress declared himself interim president and asked for the armed forces’ support.

“We will triumph over this as well, we will come out victorious,” Maduro told supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, as hundreds of thousands marched around the country demanding he step down and in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call for elections.