“Zero Hour”: Opposition in Venezuela
A 24-hour strike is being organized against President Maduro and his constituent assembly
7.6 million people took part in the opposition-organized referendum which does not have any political validity, but it does shout a need for unity and change in Venezuela. The opposition is urging the government to cancel the constituent assembly and to call for elections before Nicolas Maduro’s term is over in 2019. In a public statement, the opposition announced that with this strike they will pressure the government and prepare themselves for next week; they affirmed there will be a definitive escalation of force used at the protests.
In line with that escalation, the opposition is assuming Maduro will be impeached, they want Supreme Court Judges, and a better plan for the constituent assembly through which all Venezuela will be united and asking for change.
The Government does not agree; for them, the referendum doesn’t have any political importance and, according to the authorities, it was not legitimate. “It was a grotesque experiment of media manipulation. It has no legal validity”, affirmed Venezuela’s foreign Minister Samuel Moncada.
On the other hand, correspondents and academics are worried about the position of the Government and the opposition itself because, in the statement read by Freddy Guevara from the Democratic Unity Coalition, a parallel state structure is in the midst which may only harm Venezuelans and create an even bigger breach in the population.
If Maduro and the opposition don’t start having peaceful conversations in the hopes to better the situation in Venezuela, by next week the confrontation will have escalated and there maybe regrettable consequences, just as it was foretold by many.
Hopefully, the next few hours will bring forward a solution between the two factions, but Venezuela’s reality may show a different outcome. It doesn’t matter the violence that’s emerging inside of the South American country or how many people are suffering the consequences of said actions; looks as if as if power is the only thing that matters.
LatinAmerican Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella
Copy edited by Susana Cicchetto
