Millions of Venezuelans Turn Against Maduro in Symbolic Vote

Millions of Venezuelans Turn Against Maduro in Symbolic Vote
Noris Soto, Nathan Crooks
BloombergJuly 17, 2017

Almost 7.2 million Venezuelans lined up throughout the country and
abroad for a symbolic vote of dissent against President Nicolas Maduro's
plan to rewrite the constitution, a turnout that dwarfed expectations.

The tally, which was reported by opponents of the authoritarian regime
who organized the plebiscite, represented a significant proportion of
the nation's population of 31 million. Massing to about 2,000 polling
places in the colors of the Venezuelan flag, they defied the threat of
violence by government supporters that took at least one life.

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"With these numbers, Maduro is rebuked," Julio Borges, president of the
opposition controlled National Assembly, said late Sunday. "The people
have given a clear mandate to have a free and democratic country. We
don't want to be Cuba."

Venezuelans were asked in the unofficial plebiscite whether they would
reject Maduro's plan to convene an assembly July 30th that aims to
rewrite the constitution and grant even more powers to the presidency.
As part of the symbolic vote, Venezuelans were also asked whether or not
they would back fresh elections for a new government. About 700,000
people participated from outside of the country.

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While the poll lacks any real enforcement mechanism and isn't approved
by the National Electoral Council, the strong turnout could embolden
calls from home and abroad for Maduro to withdraw the proposal for the
new constituent.

"The result is a remarkable show of force for Venezuela's opposition,"
Torino Capital said Monday in an emailed note. "The results seem to
confirm that the opposition would easily defeat the government in any
election."

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Still, it's unclear whether Maduro's government will rein in its plans
to rewrite the constitution, added the New York-based investment bank,
which specializes in the country's securities.

"While we believe the government is likely to continue to see an erosion
of its political base, we see this process occurring gradually and only
possibly leading to regime change in the medium term," it said in its note.

Long Lines

Polling stations were operated Sunday by opposition volunteers in
plazas, churches and sporting facilities. Voters lined up early,
sometimes by the hundreds, many wearing shirts and hats with the
Venezuelan flag on it, chanting against Maduro.

"We have no future, our kids have no future. This is a dictatorship, and
I just can't sit home and complain, I have to go out and protest," said
Alfonso Cortez, a 74-year-old retired man who walked to Caracas with
more than 200 people from Tachira, a border state with Colombia, to vote
against the assembly.

Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate and opposition
leader, said the day's true significance was the turnout, which
highlighted Venezuelans' desire for better economic and social conditions.

"If the current government doesn't want to end in our country's
political trash can, they should take note of the overwhelming, peaceful
democratic expression and cancel the constitutional fraud," he told
reporters in Caracas. "The cancellation of the constitutional assembly
would be a victory for the Venezuelan people."

The National Assembly reported "irregularities" involving armed
paramilitaries in a polling point in Catia, a neighborhood outside of
Caracas, according to its Twitter feed. Carlos Ocariz, an opposition
leader, told reporters that 263 incidents had been recorded across the
country.

Borges said a 61-year-old woman died after armed paramilitaries shot
towards people outside of a church in the poor Catia neighborhood of
Caracas.

"We don't want any more deaths," he said. "We want the peace of the ballot."

With fears of violence ahead of the vote, the United Nations had called
on Venezuela's government to allow the process to proceed peacefully.
Tensions had been high ahead of the vote, which took place after four
months of organized protests against Maduro's government, which have
left almost 100 people dead.

Source: Millions of Venezuelans Turn Against Maduro in Symbolic Vote -
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/millions-venezuelans-turn-against-maduro-132103330.html