Mexico City, 12 June 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared transitional president Juan Guaido was physically attacked on Saturday. Video published on social media and the El Nacional news site showed Guaido being insulted, shoved and pelted with objects during a visit to the city of San Carlos in Cojedes state. A photo showed Guaido with a ripped shirt. It was not initially clear whether the 38-year-old was injured. Guaido's office said armed henchmen from President Nicolas Maduro's "dictatorship" had violently attacked him and hit members of his team. The car in which Guaido drove away was shot at and hit by several bullets, his office said in a statement. A former candidate for governor of Cojedes from the ruling PSUV party was among the ringleaders of the attack, according to Guaido's team. "We are deeply concerned by the unprovoked attack on President Guaido and his colleagues. This egregious attack risked lives," Brian Nichols from the US State Department's western hemisphere affairs team tweeted. Opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in early 2019 and has since tried to force President Nicholas Maduro, who is supported by the powerful military, out of office. Despite gaining backing from countries including the US, which recognizes Guaido as the transitional head of state, he has failed to be widely accepted domestically.