Venezuela’s opposition candidate on Saturday called for President Nicolas Maduro to end “violence and persecution,” hours after the country’s high court said its upcoming ruling on the disputed July 28 election cannot be appealed.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who claims to have won the election by a wide margin, posted a video on social media demanding that Maduro allow free political expression.
“I ask you on behalf of all Venezuelans to put an end to the violence and persecution and to immediately release all compatriots arbitrarily detained,” Gonzalez Urrutia said, referring to post-election unrest that left 24 dead and 2,200 people arrested.
Photo: AFP
“Demanding respect for our constitution is not a crime, demonstrating peacefully to uphold the will of millions of Venezuelans is not a crime,” the 74-year-old former diplomat added.
The message from Gonzalez Urrutia, who has not been seen publicly in more than a week, came after the Venezuelan Supreme Court said its upcoming ruling on the contested election would be “final.”
The court “is continuing the assessment begun on August 5, 2024, with a view to producing the final ruling... Its decisions are final and binding,” the body’s president Carylsia Rodriguez said.
Most observers say the high court is loyal to the government of Maduro, who has claimed a narrow victory in the election.
Opposition leaders say Gonzalez Urrutia won overwhelmingly and have produced what they say are official tallies from voting sites as evidence.
Maduro himself summoned the high court on Aug. 1 to “validate” his victory.
The court heard from all candidates, including Maduro, this week — except for Gonzalez Urrutia, who has said he fears arrest.
Key opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — a past presidential candidate who was banned from running this time — has said she is living in hiding.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Cannabis-based medicines have shown little evidence of effectiveness for treating most mental health and substance-use disorders, according to a large review of past studies published in a major medical journal on Monday. Medical use of cannabinoids has been expanding, including in the US, Canada and Australia, where many patients report using cannabis products to manage conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems. Researchers reviewed data from 54 randomized clinical trials conducted between 1980 and May last year involving 2,477 participants for their analysis published in The Lancet. The studies assessed cannabinoids as a primary treatment for mental disorders or substance-use
NATIONWIDE BLACKOUT: US President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island’s already antiquated grid Cuba’s national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the nation’s grid operator said, leaving about 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the already obsolete generation system. Grid operator UNE on social media said that it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days and that this weekend sparked a rare violent protest in the communist-run nation. Officials ruled out a major power plant failure, but had still not pinpointed the root cause of the grid collapse, suggesting a problem with transmission. Officials said that
‘HEALTH ISSUE’: More than 250 women are hospitalized every day due to complications from unsafe abortions, and about three die, a study showed Jane had been bleeding heavily for days before finally seeking help, not from a hospital, but from the man who sold her the pills meant to end her six-week pregnancy. Abortions are strictly outlawed in the mainly Catholic Philippines, forcing women to turn to a patchwork of providers operating in the online shadows. While rare in practice, Philippine law allows for prison terms of up to six years for abortion patients and providers, leaving thousands of Filipinas to search for solutions in online forums where unlicensed sellers promote abortifacients. “It was very painful, as if my abdomen was being twisted,” said Jane, whose
RSS