(Caracas) The Venezuelan opposition demonstrated Saturday in Caracas, promising to continue to mobilize “until the end” against the re-election at the end of July of Nicolas Maduro, who also gathered thousands of supporters in the capital.
No incidents were reported despite the deployment of a significant security presence.
“We will not abandon the streets,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told thousands of supporters gathered in the east of the capital. “With intelligence, with prudence, with resilience, with audacity.” […] “Peaceful protest is our right.”
“The voice of the people is respected. The whole world and all of Venezuela recognize that the designated president is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia,” the opposition candidate, said Mr.me Machado, dressed in her traditional white top and perched on the bed of a truck.
Living in hiding for about two weeks, she had climbed into the vehicle a kilometre or two away, wrapped in a black hooded coat.
PHOTO JUAN BARRETO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado reaches out to supporters during a protest in Caracas on August 17, 2024.
“Freedom”, “Until the end”, the crowd shouted as he arrived. Many waved Venezuelan flags or copies of the “minutes” of polling stations, which the opposition and part of the international community are demanding be published.
The protesters then sang the national anthem before dispersing.
Repression
Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, who has not been seen publicly since July 30, was not present. “We have the votes, we have the minutes, we have the support of the international community and we have Venezuelans determined to fight for our country,” he wrote on X.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) ratified Mr. Maduro’s victory on July 28 with 52% of the vote in early August, without providing the exact count or the minutes of the polling stations, claiming to have been the victim of a computer hack. The opposition and many observers question the reality of this computer hack.
PHOTO CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Opposition supporters hold up vote tally sheets.
According to the opposition, which has made public the electoral documents obtained through its scrutineers, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia, who had replaced Mrme Machado, declared ineligible, won 67% of the vote.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I feel fear, you can’t help but feel it because of all the repression. [Mais]”We will go all the way!” assured Iliana Alvarean, a 42-year-old economist. “We will get out!” [Le pouvoir] “We’re not going to lock us up, we’re not going to stay at home,” Apra Ortiz, a 56-year-old doctor, also assured the crowd.
The announcement of Mr Maduro’s re-election to a third term sparked spontaneous protests the day after the vote, which were brutally repressed. According to official sources, 25 people died, 192 were injured and 2,400 arrested.
The opposition, which had so far only organised one demonstration, on 3 August, had called for large demonstrations on Saturday across the country and in more than 300 cities abroad.
The kick-off was in Australia, where protesters gathered waving Venezuelan flags. Photos of rallies poured in from around the world on social media.
PHOTO FEDERICO PARRA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The announcement of Mr Maduro’s re-election for a third term sparked spontaneous protests, which were brutally repressed. Officials say 25 people died, 192 were injured and 2,400 were arrested.
“Too many blockades”
Thousands of people gathered in Madrid’s famous Puerta del Sol square. “My family is in Venezuela and I want this country to be free,” said Darwin Linares, a 23-year-old Venezuelan who has been in Spain for six years.
Some seven million Venezuelans have fled the country’s economic and political crisis over the past decade. The government also held a “great national march for peace” in the capital.
“The Venezuelan people have suffered too many blockades (economic sanctions), too many attacks and now we are suffering a new attack that we will defeat,” said Aurimar Nieves, a 46-year-old pro-Maduro protester.
“Maria Corina’s “proofs” […] are false and she will pay for it. Make no mistake: Maduro is still firmly in power, today more than ever,” he added.
An impressive caravan of hundreds of motorcyclists also rode through the city. Pro-government rallies also took place 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 called in separate statements on Friday for the publication of the “verbal records” of the vote.
Mr Maduro has brushed off criticism from abroad, saying he rejects “interventionism” and quipping: “We are preparing the delegation of election observers for the November 5 elections in the United States.”