Venezuela’s opposition has taken to the streets to challenge Nicolás Maduro’s victory in July’s presidential election, which it says Edmundo González won by a landslide.
The meeting went off without a hitch. Thousands of Venezuelans responded to the call of the Democratic Unity Platform, their country’s political opposition, and took to the streets of Caracas on Saturday to protest Nicolás Maduro’s victory in July’s presidential election.
The opposition, which had so far only organised one demonstration, on 3 August, had called for large demonstrations on Saturday across the country and in more than 300 cities abroad.
The kick-off was in Australia, where protesters gathered waving Venezuelan flags. Photos of rallies poured in from around the world on social media.
Thousands of people gathered in the famous Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. “My family is in Venezuela and I want this country to be free”explained Darwin Linares, a 23-year-old Venezuelan. Some seven million Venezuelans have fled the country’s economic and political crisis over the past decade.
In Lisbon, Portugal, protesters showed copies of the election results presented by the opposition, which gave 67% of the vote to Edmundo González, or more than 7.3 million votes, and only 30% to Nicolás Maduro, who won 3.3 million votes.
They also called on world governments to show their support for González and to express their support for Venezuelans in their home countries who fear speaking out against Maduro and his allies. Edmundo González wrote on his social networks: “They will not be able to hide the reality of July 28: we won hands down.”
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