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Ban on flights from Panama That will be handed down to former Latin American leaders in Venezuela, who will be observers in Sunday’s presidential election, heightening tensions surrounding those elections, in which Nicolas Maduro He is seeking a third term, which would bring his total years in office to 18.
Maduro, 61, is the main rival of the diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez UrrutiaThe 74-year-old was nominated by the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable, but the original candidate, Maria Corina Machado, and other leaders were disqualified from politics.
Panamanian President José Raul Mulino this Friday condemned the Venezuelan authorities for preventing a Copa Airlines flight carrying the former ruler from taking off from Tocumen airport. In a message on the X social network, Mulino explained that the situation was caused by the “blockade of Venezuelan airspace.”
The group is made up of former presidents Mireya Moscoso (Panama), Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Costa Rica), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) and Vicente Fox (Mexico)Spain and all members of the Democratic Initiative for the Americas (IDEA Group) and strong critics of the Maduro government.
“Bad sign for Sunday”explain fox In an interview with Mexican Grupo Formula. “They took us off the plane through blackmail and pressure from Venezuela,” he denounced.
On Thursday, powerful Chavista leaders God-given hair He announced that they would be blocked from entering Venezuela. “If you’re not invited to a party, what do they say to you? (…) They say: ‘Be nice and leave’ (…). They’re not invited, they’re guests of the show,” he said on the TV show. “They don’t come here to fuck; this country respects itself”he added.
The events in Panama heightened fears in the region as Maduro warned of a “bloodbath” if the opposition won. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chilean President Gabriel Boric separately expressed concerns.
“You can’t threaten a massacre from any angle (…) leaders and candidates get a lot of votes”Borick said Thursday.
“Maduro must learn: When you win, you stay. When you lose, you leave”Lula said on Monday.
The United States, the European Union and most Latin American governments ignored Maduro’s re-election in 2018, which the opposition boycotted, calling it fraudulent. White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby warned “Political repression and violence are unacceptable”.
“everything’s ready”
“We are ready for everything,” Elvis Amoroso, president of the National Electoral Council, said Friday at an event in Caracas with invited international observers.
The process of installing more than 30,000 polling stations began in the morning, with opposition activists complaining about delays. However, Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino López defended the deployment of the security operation “Republic Plan” to protect the elections.
“Alert! Biased complaints are being made through RRSS (social networks), which is an attempt to sabotage the electoral atmosphere,” questioned the military chief of X, who this week denied that the armed forces would be “arbiters”. González Urrutia asked the agency The result of “respect and ensure respect”.
Machado reported that he spoke with the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milley; Paraguay, Santiago Pena; and Uruguay’s Luis Lacalle Pou. He thanked them in the X for their “solidarity and support” in their “struggle for democracy.” “We will always stand with the Venezuelan people,” Milley responded.
Mass arrests
The human rights NGO Foro Penal also reported this Friday that 135 people linked to the campaign of the opposition González Urrutia have been arrested, of whom 47 remain in detention.
“Since January, 149 people have been arbitrarily arrested for political reasons (…), 135 of whom are directly linked to the national tour and the campaigns of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia,” he told AFP. Director Gonzalo Ximiob.
Likewise, the group reported that authorities closed venues that served opposition campaign events. There are 10 candidates in this election, in which 21 million of 30 million Venezuelans are called to vote. The polls favor González Urrutia, but Chavismo refuses to accept the polls and accuses the opposition of planning to ignore the results and create violence.
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