Demonstrations: Opposition pledges to ‘fight to the end’ in Venezuela

Venezuela’s opposition held a demonstration in Caracas on Saturday, pledging to continue mobilizing “until the end” against Nicolás Maduro’s re-election at the end of July, which also gathered thousands of supporters in the capital.

Despite the deployment of major security systems, no incidents were reported. “We will not abandon the streets,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told thousands of supporters gathered in the east of the capital. “With wisdom, prudence, tenacity, boldness … peaceful protest is our right.”

“free”

“The voice of the people is respected. The whole world and all of Venezuela recognizes that the president-elect is Edmundo González Urrutia,” said opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado, wearing a traditional white blouse as she sat on the platform of a truck.

She hid for two weeks, wrapped in a black hooded jacket, and got into a car a kilometer or two away.

As he arrived, the crowd chanted “Freedom” and “Until the end.” Many waved Venezuelan flags or copies of the “minutes” of polling stations, whose release is being demanded by the opposition and parts of the international community. The demonstrators then sang the national anthem before dispersing.

inhibition

Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who has not been seen in public since July 30, was not present. He wrote on X: “We have the votes, we have the minutes, we have the support of the international community, we have Venezuelans who are determined to fight for our country.”

The National Electoral Council (CNE) approved Nicolás Maduro’s July 28 victory with 52% of the vote in early August, but did not provide an exact count or minutes from polling stations and claimed it was the victim of a computer hack. The opposition and many observers have expressed doubts about the authenticity of the computer hack.

The opposition released election documents obtained by poll workers and said Edmundo González Urrutia, who succeeded María Corina Machado, who was declared ineligible, won 67 percent of the vote.

The announcement of Nicolás Maduro’s third term sparked spontaneous demonstrations the day after the election, which were brutally suppressed, leaving 25 dead, 192 injured and 2,400 arrested, according to official sources.

Protests around the world

The opposition has so far organized only one mobilization event on August 3 and has called for large-scale demonstrations on Saturday in more than 300 cities across the country and abroad.

It kicked off in Australia, where protesters gathered waving Venezuelan flags. Social networks were flooded with photos of gatherings from around the world. Thousands gathered in Madrid’s famous Puerta del Sol square.

The government also held a “large national peaceful march” in the capital. “The Venezuelan people have suffered too many blockades (economic sanctions) and too many attacks, and now we are suffering a new attack, and we will defeat it,” assured Aurimar Nieves, a 46-year-old pro-Maduro demonstrator.

Maduro ignores criticism

An impressive convoy of hundreds of cyclists also moved through the city. Pro-power rallies were also held in other cities across the country, according to images broadcast by public television.

The European Union, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Brazil and 22 other countries issued separate statements on Friday demanding the release of the voting “record”.

Nicolás Maduro brushed off criticism from abroad, saying he rejected “interventionism” and sarcastically said: “We are preparing a delegation of election observers for the November 5 elections in the United States.”

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