Thousands of Venezuelans have gathered in Caracas this Tuesdayin an act called by the majority opposition, to reject for the second consecutive day against the fraud in the official results of the National Electoral Council (CNE), which yesterday proclaimed Nicolas Maduro as re-elected president with 51.2% of the votes.
Mostly dressed in white and chanting slogans against Chavismo, which has governed the country since 1999, the supporters of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) filled a point in the city, where they awaited the arrival of the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and the presidential candidate of the anti-Chavez bloc, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
This is the first large-scale organized activity after numerous protests were recorded in various regions of the country on Monday in rejection of the electoral results provided by the CNE, with 80% of the votes counted and without showing the tally sheets, and after the PUD assured that it has evidence showing that its candidate won the elections by a wide margin, contrary to what was announced by the electoral body.
Peaceful protest
Machado and González Urrutia arrived at the scene on board a truck, from which they traveled a few kilometers in a caravan, and gave a speech in which they reiterated that the “struggle” they promote is peaceful and seeks to have the authorities recognize that Chavismo, in power since 1999, lost the elections.
Both expressed their solidarity with the victims of the protests, estimated, according to non-governmental organizations, at six dead and 84 wounded, while the Prosecutor’s Office counted 749 arrests and 48 police and military personnel injured, one of whom died “from gunfire from protesters.”
EFE confirmed that after about three hours of gathering, the crowd peacefully dispersed – as repeatedly requested by the organizers – and the citizens cleared the road without incident or violence.
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