CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition parties and their supporters are expected to hold protests across the country on Thursday in a last-ditch effort to pressure President Nicolas Maduro, a day before he is sworn in for his third term. six years.
The opposition and ruling party are locked in an ongoing dispute over last year’s presidential election, which both claim they won.
The electoral authority and the country’s highest court say that Maduro, whose mandate has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the July election, although they never published the detailed results.
The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, has said it will arrest opposition leader Edmundo González if he returns to the country, and has detained key opposition members and activists in the run-up to his inauguration.
The opposition says González, 75, won the election in a landslide. She published the vote counts as evidence, gaining support from governments around the world, including the United States, which consider González to be the president-elect.
María Corina Machado, who is the country’s most popular opposition leader but was barred from running in 2024, promised to join the protesters this Thursday.
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The appearance would mark his first public appearance since he went into hiding in August.
Machado, 57, has called on protesters to peacefully fill the streets and repeatedly asked members of the police and armed forces – who guarded polling stations during the election – to support González’s victory.
Maduro, 62, has been in power since 2013. He has the vehement support of military leaders and the intelligence services, which are run by close allies of the powerful Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello.
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“I am convinced that nothing will happen,” Cabello said on state television on Monday. “But that doesn’t mean we let our guard down.”
The government has implemented strong military security in Caracas, especially near the Miraflores Palace.
The ruling party is also expected to organize a march.
