Courage prevailed. One month after the presidential elections held on July 28th, in Venezuela, citizens in several regions of the country took to the streets peacefully this Wednesday to demonstrate as part of the national protest called “acta mata sentencia” (official record kills ruling).
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Despite the intimidation imposed in recent weeks by state security officials, added to the recent appointment of Diosdado Cabello as Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, members of civil society and political leaders overcame fear and responded to the call made by opposition leader, María Corina Machado, to defend the results of the presidential elections, where according to the (officialrecords) collected by the Unitary Platform, Edmundo González Urrutia was the winner.
The image of the people who came out with Venezuelan flags in hand to the concentration points set up in the different cities, contrasted with the presence of police and military officers who stood by in the vicinity of the different sites where the demonstrations took place.
In Zulia, civil society and political leaders gathered in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá in Maracaibo. From there they asked the regime to respect the will of the voters who participated in the last presidential elections and rejected the arrests in the post-electoral context, as well as the activation of “roadblocks to sow terror” in society.
In Mérida, the call took place with total normality, the citizens expressed themselves in a peaceful manner waving the Venezuelan flag. At the same time, contingents of the security forces were deployed making patrols rounds in different sectors of the state’s capital city during the morning of this Wednesday.
“To solve the problems of our country, we don’t have to change the Constitution, we just have to apply it,” read one of the banners of the hundreds of “Tachirenses” (native of Táchira State) who this Wednesday again gathered peacefully in the vicinity of the Plaza ‘Daniel Tinoco’, located on Carabobo Avenue in the city of San Cristóbal, in response to the call of the democratic opposition leader María Corina Machado.
The majority of the citizens present on this occasion were elderly people, because in the last gatherings several young people who had stayed until the end of the activity were arrested.
At the headquarters of the San Cristóbal Fire Department, an operations center was once again set up, there police and military units stationed (a deployment that has only been done for the first time in the history of Táchira after July 28th, 2024), so a section of San Cristóbal’s 19 de Abril Avenue, near the fire department headquarters, was completely blocked, unlike Carabobo Avenue where the rally took place and the people of Táchira could move freely, since the peaceful protest at no time hindered or violated the right to free movement.
Police and military intimidation
In Lara State, citizens took to the streets once again, and in the case of Barquisimeto, the rally took place at the crossing of Lara Avenue with Leones, in the east of the city. Despite the police presence around the rally, the “guaros” took their flags and banners to continue raising their voices and peacefully demand the publication of the “actas” (official records, minutes) of the election results.
In Carabobo, the protest was held peacefully on the corner of the “Shopping Center” on Avenida Andrés Eloy Blanco in Valencia. Young people and older adults attended the demonstration with Venezuelan flags, playing vuvuzelas and with banners in hand with messages of faith and hope. In the vicinity of the place, citizens reported the presence of officers from various security agencies.
In the case of Falcón, in the main cities such as Coro and Punto Fijo, a large police and military presence was observed with riot gear surrounding the squares where the rallies were held. However, this did not discourage those who decided to participate in the rally. Vilma López pointed out that the opposition rallies have always been peaceful, because people organized to carry out a clean electoral process, take care of the vote tally and enforce democracy.
In Apure, the meeting began at 10:00 am, as scheduled, until 11:30 am in the ‘Casa de Zinc’ neighborhood at the intersection of Carabobo and Revolución avenues in San Fernando de Apure. The democratic opposition demanded that Nicolás Maduro respect the election results and prayed for peace in Venezuela. Despite the presence of some 40 police and military officers at the rally site, the activity ended without incident.
“We cannot remain silent”
In Guárico, a group of people protested outside the ‘Casa del Maestro’ in ‘San Juan de los Morros’. “I believe that we cannot remain silent. Yes, there is fear, because this government has committed itself to scare us, to use us, to humiliate us, to violate our rights, but we are tired and we want freedom for Venezuela,” said Elizabeth España, a protester.
Despite heavy rain and winds that caused damage in Barinas since the early hours of Wednesday, August 28th, a group of people met in front of the ‘Nuestra Señora del Carmen’ church, on the ’23 de Enero’ Avenue, remembering that for a month there is an outstanding account due to the country: the review and publication of the official electoral records. The demonstration was peaceful, they carried flags, whistles and made a racket.
In Anzoátegui, residents of Anaco, El Tigre, Barcelona, Puerto La Cruz and Lechería joined in the peaceful protest. In Anaco they decided to meet in the Bolívar square of this city, where the attendees held a citizens’ assembly in rejection of the Supreme Court’s ruling, referring to the electoral results of July 28th . In El Tigre, the chosen stage for the demonstration on Wednesday was Libertador Avenue. The demonstrations were held peacefully and ended at 1:00 pm.
With pots, whistles and slogans, citizens responded to the call to peacefully protest and gathered on the crossing of ‘El Ejército’ with Libertador avenue in Maturín, Monagas State. The protesters said that despite the intimidation, they took to the streets and will return to them to answer every call made by the democratic opposition leaders.
Meanwhile, a large contingent of National Guard troops, as well as the Monagas State police, were guarding the ‘El Indio’ square with riot shields, despite the fact that it was not the place called by the opposition.
In Bolívar State, ‘Guayaneses’ gathered at the roundabouts of Chilemex and ‘La Churuata’, both in Puerto Ordaz, Caroní municipality. With records in hand, protesters once again rejected the results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE) in which it declared Nicolás Maduro the winner.
In Sucre and Nueva Esparta, citizens also joined the national protest.
