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19-08-2024
CARACAS: Opposition supporters have gathered across Venezuela to protest against Nicolas Maduro’s disputed victory in last month’s presidential election.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado joined thousands of protesters in the capital, Caracas, and urged them not to be afraid.
Machado, who had been in hiding after being accused of insurrection, said there was nothing above the voice of the people, and that the people had spoken.
Police and the army were deployed in force as supporters of Maduro also held a demonstration.
“We won’t leave the streets,” Machado told protesters, with many of them waving copies of election records from their voting stations as proof of victory.
She had called for nationwide protests to intensify pressure on Maduro to concede.
Some demonstrators seemed determined to carry on.
“This is a criminal government that wants to hold on to power. I smell freedom, I have nothing to fear,” said Adriana Calzadilla, quoted by media.
“I hope for Maduro to recognize his defeat and hand over the power peacefully,” medical student Jose Berbin told Reuters.
“What I think will happen is that the dictatorship will get harder, we all need to unite against the dictatorship and show that good people are more.”
Maduro has insisted he won a third six-year term but the opposition released tallies it said showed its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, winning by a wide margin.
Speaking from an unidentified location, Gonzalez said it was time for an “orderly transition”.
At his rival rally, Maduro mocked Gonzalez, saying he was “living in a cave”.
The electoral commission, controlled by allies of Maduro, has refused to release detailed results, but declared he won with 52% of the vote. Independent observers said it lacked transparency.
Since the election, anti-government protests have flared up and hundreds of people have been arrested by the security forces, which remain loyal to President Maduro.
According to the Venezuelan government, more than 2,400 people have been detained since 29 July, the day the disputed election result was announced.
The UN denounced the fact that street protests and criticism on social media have been met with “fierce repression” by the state.
Similar demonstrations have been held in cities around the world, from Australia to Spain and also in the United Kingdom, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.
The European Union, the United States and a number of Latin American nations have refused to recognize the result.
Venezuela’s opposition coalition has called for protests to be held worldwide on 17 August in support of its claim to have won the country’s presidential election.
President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner by the government-controlled electoral commission, which handed him a third consecutive term in office.
The opposition says its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, was the real winner, and has called for the commission to release detailed data from polling stations.
This call has been backed by the European Union and the US while a number of other Latin American nations have so far held off recognizing Maduro as the winner of last month’s poll. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado posted a video on social media in which she said Venezuelans should “take to the streets” worldwide on Saturday 17 August in support of her party’s claim of victory.
“Let’s shout together for the world to support our victory and recognize truth and popular sovereignty”, she said on Sunday.
The opposition published a data set online shortly after the 28 July election which it says proves Gonzalez won by a wide margin. (Int’l News Desk)
