Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Venezuela’s capital Saturday, waving the national flag and singing the national anthem in support of an opposition candidate they believe won the presidential election by a landslide.
Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Venezuela’s capital Saturday, waving the national flag and singing the national anthem in support of an opposition candidate they believe won the presidential election by a landslide. Authorities have declared President Nicols Maduro the winner of last Sunday’s election but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won. Instead, the government arrested hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets in the days after the disputed poll, and the president and his cadres have threatened to also lock up opposition leader, Mara Corina Machado, and her hand-picked presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzlez. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
On Saturday, supporters chanted and sang as Machado arrived at the rally in Caracas. Machado, who has been barred by Maduro’s government from running for office for 15 years, had been in hiding since Tuesday, saying her life and freedom are at risk. Masked assailants ransacked the opposition’s headquarters on Friday, taking documents and vandalizing the space.
Machado held aloft a Venezuelan flag and promised that the regime that has forced millions of Venezuelans to leave their country was finally coming to an end.
We have overcome all the barriers! We have knocked them all down, Machado said. Never has the regime been so weak.
Carmen Elena Garca, a 57-year-old street vendor joined the rally, even though she said she feared the government might attack.
They have to respect me and they have to respect all the Venezuelans who voted against this government, Garca said. We will not accept them stealing our votes. They have to respect our votes.
On Friday, Maduro alleged during a news conference that members of the opposition were planning an attack in a Caracas neighbourhood near where the Machado rally was taking place Saturday. He said he had ordered the armed forces to guard the neighbourhood, and also urged his supporters to attend the mother of all marches Saturday elsewhere in Caracas.
The Organization of American States on Saturday called for reconciliation and justice in Venezuela.
