- Venezuelan opposition parties and their supporters staged protests across the country on Thursday in a last-minute effort to pressure President Nicolas Maduro a day before he is sworn in for a third six-year term.
- Venezuela’s most popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has appeared for the first time since August when she went into hiding in an undisclosed location.
- Venezuela’s 62-year-old President Nicolas Maduro has been in power since 2013.
Venezuelan opposition parties and their supporters – including leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been in hiding – staged nationwide protests on Thursday in an eleventh-hour effort to pressure President Nicolas Maduro a day before he is sworn in. Exhibited. His third six-year term.
The opposition and ruling parties are embroiled in an ongoing dispute over last year’s presidential election, which they both claim to have won.
The country’s election authorities and top court say Maduro, whose tenure has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the July vote, though they have never published detailed figures.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado has sent an urgent message to newly elected President Donald Trump.
The government, which has accused the opposition of fueling fascist plots against it, said it would arrest opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez upon his return to the country and detained prominent opposition members and activists in the lead-up to the inauguration.
The opposition says Gonzalez, 75, won a landslide victory. It has published its own vote counts as evidence, leading to support from governments around the world, including the United States, which recognize González as president-elect.
Machado, the country’s most popular opposition leader but who is barred from running in 2024, joined a protest in Chacao, eastern Caracas, at around 2:20 p.m. local time (18:20 GMT). Wore a white shirt and blue jeans. And were waving the Venezuelan flag from the top of a truck.
A supporter of the Venezuelan opposition reacts as he gathers with fellow supporters ahead of the inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for a third term in office on January 9, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela. (Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
“They lost the roads that are ours, they are blocked in Miraflores (the presidential palace),” Machado told the crowd. “From today we are in a new phase.”
Her appearance marked her first public outing since August when she went into hiding at an undisclosed location.
Machado, 57, urged protesters to peacefully fill the streets and repeatedly asked members of the police and military – who guard polling stations during the election – to support Gonzalez’s victory.
“I’m not afraid, I lost my fear a long time ago,” said Neglis Payares, 70, a retired central bank employee, as she gathered with other opposition supporters in western Caracas in the morning.
“We don’t know how many of them have our hearts on our side,” he said, pointing to security forces gathered near the protest.
2 Americans arrested on ‘terrorism’ claims in Venezuela on eve of Maduro’s inauguration
Reuters witnesses estimated that about 7,000 people had gathered in Caracas by about 2:20 p.m. local time. Thousands of people also took to the streets in the days after the elections.
Maduro, 62, has been in power since 2013. He has the vocal support of leaders of the armed forces and intelligence services, which are run by close associates of powerful Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
“I’m sure nothing will happen,” Cabello said on state television on Monday. “But that doesn’t mean we will lower our vigilance.”
Banktrust, a London-based investment bank, said in a note that a change in allegiance is unlikely to be due to the military’s financial interests. It reads, “A limited military rebellion would pose significant risks to those involved, thus reducing incentives to participate.”
‘We don’t have any work’
Security forces set up checkpoints across the country.
In the western oil city of Maracaibo, an opposition protest of dozens of people was quickly dispersed by security forces riding on motorcycles in the late morning. In central Valencia, protesters gathered in a second location after initially facing tear gas.
Opposition supporters also gathered in San Cristóbal, the western city of Barquisimeto and eastern Puerto Ordaz, near the border with Colombia.
“I’m here because we have to get rid of this government. We have no money, we have no work,” Roisa Gomez, a 62-year-old housewife, said at a protest in the central city of Maracay. “I’m fighting for my vote, which I gave to Edmundo Gonzalez. They can’t steal the election.”
Soon after, security forces used tear gas to disperse Maracay protesters.
Many of the protesters were of retirement age and said they wanted change so that their immigrant children and grandchildren could return to the country. More than 7 million Venezuelans live abroad.
The ruling party was holding rival marches across the country, images of which were broadcast on state television.
“We are out to show that there is democracy. On one side there are patriots who will swear an oath with Nicolás (Maduro), on the other side there are fascists who want (foreign) intervention, war, to sell their country,” said the 50-year-old. said Caracas motorcycle taxi driver Manuel Rincon.
Gonzalez, who was visiting the United States this week and met with U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has repeatedly promised to return to Venezuela but offered no details on how. Has given.
An arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez for the alleged plot, causing him to fly to Spain in September.
Machado is being investigated by the attorney general in at least two cases, but no warrants for him have been made public.
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The government has detained several high-profile politicians and activists, including a former presidential candidate. This week, the attorney general’s office said it had released more than 1,500 of the 2,000 people, including teenagers, detained during post-election protests.
Venezuelans living abroad also protested, including in Madrid, where González’s daughter Carolina González spoke to hundreds of protesters.
“My father embraces you all, glory to the brave people of Venezuela,” he said in his voice over.
