VENEZUELA
The Heat Is On
Venezuelans from all walks of life took to the streets of Caracas Wednesday to call for President Nicolas Maduro to step down, even as international pressure mounts on the controversial leader blamed for the country’s economic collapse.
Protesters told the Associated Press they’d turned out in answer to the opposition’s call for further mass demonstrations despite the government’s strict crackdown in reaction to similar protests on Jan. 23.
“We have a lot more faith that this government has very little time left,” said Sobeia Gonzalez, 63.
The demonstrations come as opposition leader and National Assembly President Juan Guaido – who has also declared himself interim president saying Maduro’s re-election was invalid – wrote in an editorial that he has been meeting secretly with the military and security forces to negotiate Maduro’s ouster, Reuters said.
At the same time, while the US on Monday unveiled new sanctionstargeting the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, Russia, China and Turkey continue to back Maduro, and a Russian jet reportedly landed in Caracas to spirit away some $840 million in gold.
No comments:
Post a Comment