Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says President Nicolas Maduro is becoming ‘more isolated’ after election.
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have taken to the streets in an attempt to revive protests against him as he tightens his grip on power following last month’s disputed election.
The demonstration in the capital, Caracas, on Wednesday came one month after the fraught July 28 vote in which Maduro was declared the winner despite the protests of opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and international condemnation that the vote lacked transparency.
Wednesday’s protest was smaller than previous demonstrations. Groups of Venezuelans also gathered in other Latin American capitals.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who along with Gonzalez went into hiding following the election, re-emerged to attend Wednesday’s rally, waving a Venezuelan flag and hugging small children from the back of a truck as supporters shouted “Freedom.”
Banned from running against Maduro, the conservative politician crisscrossed the nation for weeks to help elect Gonzalez, a previously little-known former diplomat.
Acknowledging the steep challenge of forcing Maduro from power, Machado said the movement she leads will be strategic about calling for additional demonstrations. But she said the international pressure on Maduro is unlikely to cease any time soon.
“Those who say the passage of time favours Maduro are wrong,” Machado said to throngs of supporters who filled an avenue in Caracas. “Every day. he’s more isolated, more toxic.”
Opposition figure Biaggio Pilieri was arrested after Wednesday’s protest, the Reuters news agency reported.
In weeks of demonstrations, the opposition’s rallying cry has been constant but so far ineffective in removing Maduro from power. Opponents have demanded that officials publish results from each polling station that they say would expose Maduro’s attempts to steal the election.
“Voting records kill sentence,” is how the opposition billed the latest protest, referring to the thousands of tally sheets it collected and posted online that contradict a recent sentence written by the loyalist Supreme Court certifying Maduro’s purported victory.
Maduro’s supporters also planned to hold their own rallies on Wednesday, pledging to “defend” his victory against what they claim is an attempt to sow unrest throughout the South American country.
Reporting from neighbouring Colombia, Al…