Venezuelan opposition accuses Chavez regime

CARACAS (EFE).— Venezuela’s opposition party Primero Justicia (PJ) yesterday denounced an “escalation of arbitrary acts” ahead of the July 28 presidential elections, which it blamed on the government of Nicolás Maduro, the candidate for reelection.

The party, which supports the candidacy of Edmundo González Urrutia —standard-bearer of the main opposition bloc, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD)—, condemned the “arbitrary arrests recorded in recent days, the persecution of various opposition political leaders, the acts of violence and the closure of commercial premises by the regime of Nicolás Maduro,” according to a press release.

These acts, he continued, took place “within the framework of the electoral campaign” of González Urrutia, accompanied by the anti-Chavez leader María Corina Machado.

In this regard, the party stated that the “unjust detention of Venezuelans and the persecution of people who support” González Urrutia’s proselytizing activities “only demonstrate the fear that the Maduro regime seeks to instill in the majority of Venezuelans who want change.”

“The escalation of arbitrary actions is an example of what we are facing, but it is infinitely smaller than the strength we have, because we know that we have 14 days to defeat them,” said PJ president María Beatriz Martínez, quoted in the note.

The party demanded that the government “immediately release each of those arbitrarily detained” and called on the international community “to be alert to this new wave of persecution, which implies a serious violation of the civil and political rights of Venezuelans who only yearn for the restoration of democracy.”

According to a preliminary report published yesterday by the NGO Laboratorio de Paz, a total of 71 people were arbitrarily detained in the first ten days of the electoral campaign, of which 48 were linked to the provision of goods and services for González Urrutia’s campaign.

Yesterday, Luis Eduardo Martínez, the candidate for the presidency of Venezuela, who defines himself as an opposition member, said that elections are the only way to bring about change in the country. “We must vote, enough of the culture of abstention, we must make the electoral route the only possible way for Venezuela to change.”

PlatformOpposition

The Venezuelan opposition is grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).

Back

The opposition bloc has concentrated all its strength on the presidential elections of July 28, a race to which it returns after a decade away from the polls in an election of the same type, still with criticism of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

Primary

Last October, the PUD held presidential primaries in which María Corina Machado emerged victorious. She is disqualified from holding elected office until 2036 and therefore could not run as a candidate.

Blocked

Faced with this scenario, the opposition chose historian Corina Yoris as Ms. Machado’s substitute, but she will not be able to compete either, having been blocked by the CNE, which, to date, has not given credible explanations.

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