CARACAS/MARACAIBO (WSN) – On Saturday, Venezuela’s political opposition and their supporters assembled in various cities nationwide to demand acknowledgment of their candidate’s significant victory in a presidential election held nearly three weeks ago.
The nation’s electoral authority, which the opposition views as biased towards the ruling party, declared that President Nicolas Maduro secured his third term in the July 28 election with just under 52% of the vote.
However, the opposition, led by former legislator Maria Corina Machado, has released what it claims are 83% of the voting machine results showing their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, receiving 67% support.
The contentious election has plunged the economically troubled country into a political crisis, with a government crackdown on protests resulting in at least 2,400 arrests and 23 deaths.
The international community has proposed various solutions to the ongoing election crisis, including a new vote, but these suggestions have been largely dismissed by both the ruling party and the opposition.
In Caracas, thousands gathered in the eastern part of the city along its main road. Machado, addressing the crowd from a truck, called for independent international verification of the election and urged her supporters to remain in the streets.
“There is nothing more important than the voice of the people, and the people have spoken,” she declared.
Jesus Aguilar, a 21-year-old theology student, joined the opposition rally hoping for a brighter future: “We know that this government offers no prospects for growth. I’ve even considered leaving the country.”
Across Venezuela, people took to the streets. In Maracaibo, the once oil-rich city in the northwest, hundreds had assembled by 9 am (1300 GMT).
“We have already endured the worst; we have no more fear,” said Noraima Rodriguez, 52. “My daughter died because of a lack of medical supplies at the university hospital. I have nothing left to lose, but I want a better future for my grandchildren.”
Protests also occurred in Valencia, San Cristobal, and Barquisimeto, with many demonstrators holding Venezuelan flags, protest signs, or copies of voting tallies. In Maracay, around 110 km (70 miles) west of Caracas, about a hundred protesters were dispersed with tear gas.
The Venezuelan diaspora also mobilized, with nearly 1,000 people gathering in Mexico City’s Plaza de la Revolucion. Jesus Mata, a 30-year-old street vendor who arrived in Mexico two years ago, expressed hope for a free Venezuela: “I hope for an end to 25 years of darkness and freedom so that the nearly 8 million Venezuelans abroad can return home.”
Maduro, who has overseen Venezuela’s economic collapse with a loss of over 73% of GDP since 2013, promised 8% economic growth this year and criticized international critics and the opposition during a government support rally.
“We have the right to shape our future as we wish in Venezuela, and no one has the right to interfere,” Maduro told a crowd waving Venezuelan flags. “I do not advise others on how to manage their countries, and anyone who interferes in Venezuela will be met with resistance.”
The opposition continues to seek recognition of its victory, but its prospects are diminishing as international focus shifts elsewhere, according to opposition sources and analysts. Western countries have called for the full release of election results, while Russia, China, and others have congratulated Maduro. Washington, which imposed stricter oil sanctions in April due to alleged electoral misconduct, and other Western nations have shown little immediate response to what they view as voting fraud.
Latin American leaders are set to discuss the crisis this weekend in the Dominican Republic during the inauguration of the country’s new president, according to Panama’s president.
