On Saturday, small groups of opposition protestors in Venezuela staged a rally, accompanied by supporters from outside the nation, to commemorate two months after the contentious election that President Nicolas Maduro declared to be his own.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who went into hiding after labeling the results as fabricated, advocated for smaller meetings in order to prevent the kind of security crackdowns that had been observed at previous protests.
At a Caracas plaza, some thirty people yelled slogans, among them Leida Brito, popularly known as the “Red Helmet Grandmother” because to her years of action against the government.
“Nicolas Maduro should leave because he lost,” she said, holding a sign which read: “To defend the vote is a right.”
“The freedom of Venezuela is in danger,” Hidalgo Valero, a retired colonel, told AFP.
“Today our people are afraid to be in the streets because there is tremendous repression,” he added.
Machado addressed supporters in a voice note released by her team: “Here we are standing firm, advancing every day with more strength and enthusiasm, gathered here as the brave and good Venezuela.”
Following the contentious election, over 2,400 more Venezuelans have been detained on charges of “terrorism” for their alleged involvement in protests. Dozens of opposition leaders have also been jailed.
The post-election riots claimed the lives of twenty-seven persons.
The opposition has released its own tabulation of polling station-level data and claims that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, won the election on July 28 with 67 percent of the vote.
However, the pro-government National Electoral Council (CNE), which has not yet made public the complete election results as required by law, proclaimed Maduro the winner with 52% of the vote.
Gonzalez Urrutia, a 75-year-old retired diplomat, left Venezuela this month for asylum in Spain after spending weeks in hiding.
Larger protests also took place outside Venezuela, including in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Panama City and Montevideo. In Madrid, Gonzalez Urrutia greeted supporters who were waving the Venezuelan flag.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Maduro supporters marched in Caracas to proclaim victory in the election.
Maduro told the crowd the “supposed queen bee,” in reference to Machado, “is beginning to pack her Gucci suitcases… she is preparing to leave too.”
“We are not in Madrid, we are not hiding, we are in the street,” he declared.
About thirty nations, including the US and Argentina, pushed Maduro to hold talks with the opposition on Thursday.
The nations demanded in a joint statement that Venezuelans jailed following the election be released right once and that “constructive and inclusive discussions” be held on a democratic transition.
