Supporters of Venezuela’s political opposition took to the streets in various cities across the nation on Saturday, demanding acknowledgement of their candidate’s significant win, according to their claims, in a presidential election nearly three weeks prior. The state’s election body, which the opposition views as a puppet of the ruling faction, has announced that President Nicolás Maduro clinched his third term in the July 28th race, by gaining just shy of 52 percent of the votes.
Contrastingly, the opposition, spearheaded by ex-legislator Maria Corina Machado, has made public 83 percent of vote machine counts on the internet, which, in large part, show candidate Edmundo Gonzalez receiving a robust 67 percent backing. The contested election has thrown the fiscally struggling country into a political turmoil, with the government’s rigorous response to demonstrations resulting in at least 2,400 detentions. Associated conflict has also led to a reported 23 fatalities.
Despite the world at large offering a series of recommendations to navigate the close-to-three-week-long election dispute – including conducting a fresh election – both the ruling party and opposition have mostly dismissed these proposals. In Capital City Caracas, thousands congregated in the city’s east corridor, where Ms Machado rallied in the crowd’s midst, atop a lorry. She urged for an independent, international appraisal of the election and implored her followers to remain a street presence.
Asserting the paramountcy of the public’s voice, she stated, supporters demonstrated in cities countrywide. By 9am local time, hundreds had assembled in Maracaibo, Venezuela’s one-time oil-rich city in the northwest. Protests took place in Valencia, San Cristobal and Barquisimeto, as many brandished Venezuelan flags, demonstration placards or voting count copies, amidst hundreds of demonstrators. Teargas was used to scatter about a hundred protesters approximately 110 km (70 miles) west of Caracas, in Maracay.
Mr. Maduro’s tenure has seen a drastic economic downfall with a whopping 73% shrinkage of Venezuela’s gross domestic product since 2013, as per the studies by the Institute of Superior Administration Studies, Caracas.
Following a pro-government march at Miraflores Palace, Mr. Maduro vowed an 8% upsurge in the economy this year, hitting back at international cynics as well as the opposition. He asserted, amidst a crowd waving national flags, that Venezuela’s future is for its citizens to determine and it’s not open to foreign interference. He added that he doesn’t go around advising other nations and will resist anyone poking their nose into Venezuelan affairs.
The opposition clings to having its victory acknowledged but their prospects are dwindling as global focus drifts away, as per opposition sources and analysts in conversation with Reuters this week. Many western nations have called for complete disclosure of results, whilst Russia and China amongst others have hailed Mr. Maduro’s victory.
This weekend, in the Dominican Republic, Latin American leaders will debate on this crisis during the swearing-in of the new president of that country, as revealed by the president of Panama. Credit: Reuters