Venezuela’s opposition leader on Saturday emerged from hiding, saying: “We have never been so strong,” as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro slammed what he called attempts to “usurp the presidency” following last week’s disputed election.
Thousands gathered peacefully across Venezuela, including in the capital, Caracas, where Maria Corina Machado thrilled supporters with a surprise appearance in a truck bearing a banner reading “Venezuela has won.”
Machado, who spent much of the week in hiding after Maduro threatened her with arrest following deadly post-election protests, had backed the candidacy of Edmundo Gonzalez after she herself was banned from running.
Photo: AFP
Supporters say he won 67 percent of the July 28 vote, and several Latin American countries and the US have recognized him as president-elect.
Others have called on Venezuela to release detailed vote tallies, including EU states France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who on Saturday noted their “strong concern” about the results.
Brazil, Colombia and Mexico — which have maintained good relations with Maduro’s government — urged an “impartial verification” of the result.
“We have never been so strong as today,” Machado told the crowd. “The regime has never been weaker.”
“We are not going to leave the streets,” she said, surrounded by security.
Gonzalez was not seen publicly on Saturday.
Backers cried out “Freedom” as Machado’s truck passed by.
“Seeing her gives me hope, despite the threats. She is a light for Venezuela,” 26-year-old shopkeeper Adrian Pacheco said.
The Venezuelan National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro, on Friday proclaimed him the winner with 52 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Gonzalez, a result that defied pre-election polls.
Thousands of Maduro supporters on Saturday afternoon responded to his call for “the mother of all marches,” gathering in central Caracas to march to the presidential palace in the name of “national peace.”
“We will not accept” the opposition’s claims of victory and moves to “usurp the presidency of the republic again,” Maduro said at the rally.
Venezuela emigres in cities across the Americas also protested against Maduro and his claims of victory in the election.
“We don’t want violence, we just want him to leave, we only want peace,” 43-year-old Maudie Lopez, a crafts worker, said in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, where hundreds joined in song and prayer.
“I want to return to my country,” Lopez said.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
RSS