Thousands of Venezuelans demonstrated this Saturday, August 17, in the main capitals and cities of the world, including Guatemala, as a show of strength and unity against the “fraud” that they say the government of Nicolás Maduro committed in the presidential elections of July 28 and to demand that the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia be elected president and winner of those elections.
In Caracas, the epicenter of the worldwide rally of Venezuela’s largest opposition alliance, the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), to demand the truth of the victory in the July 28 presidential elections and to express their dissent towards Nicolás Maduro, the big surprise was the reappearance of opposition leader María Corina Machado before thousands of her followers.
Machado, after two weeks of being kept under guard, fearing for her “freedom and her life,” appeared again this Saturday in the already popular campaign truck, cheered by thousands of demonstrators who heeded her call to continue the peaceful protest, accompanied by several opponents, such as Delsa Solórzano, Biagio Pilieri or César Pérez Vivas, among others.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Saturday that “the greatest civic feat in the history” of the country was carried out by the anti-Chavez movement through the candidate of Gonzalez Urrutia, who – she said – “swept” the presidential elections.
“They thought that by persecuting our witnesses we were not going to get our records, but within 24 hours we had the records digitalized,” said Machado, in front of thousands of opponents who mobilized in defense of “the truth.”
Madrid, the most crowded abroad
The largest demonstration outside Venezuela’s borders took place in Madrid, with almost 15,000 people filling the iconic central Puerta del Sol, shouting “Freedom” and “Maduro Out.”
Venezuelan leaders in exile such as Leopoldo López and former Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma attended the demonstration. In a statement to Efe, he welcomed international support for the “epic battle” that Venezuelans are waging against the Maduro government.
Madrid was one of thirty Spanish cities that joined the global call for protests called by Venezuela’s largest opposition alliance, the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), to demand the truth of the victory in the presidential elections of July 28 and to express their dissent towards Nicolás Maduro.
In other European capitals, such as Rome, London and Brussels, hundreds of Venezuelans also took to the streets against Maduro’s “fraud.”
In the British capital, between 450 and 600 Venezuelans demonstrated peacefully, displaying copies of the electoral records that would give victory to the opposition candidate.
Several hundred Venezuelans gathered in Paris’s Place de la Bastille under persistent rain, and other demonstrations were also organised in a dozen other French cities, including Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Bayonne, La Rochelle and Le Havre.
In Brussels, around 250 people gathered in the centre of the European capital, a figure similar to that of Venezuelans who met in the Roman Imperial Forums shouting “freedom” and chanting slogans against Maduro.
In Colombia, protests with longing for return
In Colombia, the country that welcomes the most Venezuelans, hundreds of people gathered in the squares of the main cities shouting “Edmundo President” and carrying banners reading “Free Venezuela” or “Out with the dictator Maduro,” in rallies that brought together Colombians and Venezuelans in the hope of returning to their country.
Venezuelans also gathered in the other countries. Dozens of Venezuelans demonstrated in the Australian city of Sydney to claim González Urrutia’s victory with banners reading “I want Venezuela free” or “Sovereignty, peaceful transition to democracy: Long live free Venezuela, glory to the brave people.”
In Guatemala
Dozens of Venezuelans living in the country gathered in Plaza Bolívar, on Avenida de las Américas, to show their rejection of the election results.
As in other cities around the world, Venezuelans in Guatemala also carried banners demanding freedom.
There were also protests in Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Panama, Uruguay, Canada, the United States and Mexico.
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