CARACAS.- The opposition leader Maria Corina Machado warned this Wednesday about “the cruel and repressive escalation” carried out by the Nicolas Maduro regime, when 177 arbitrary arrests, 11 forced disappearances and 16 deaths have been recorded in 48 hours, after a crisis broke out in the South American country following the Sunday’s presidential election in which the Electoral Power gave victory to the dictator while the opposition has denounced fraud.
“Venezuela and the entire world know that violence is the last resort of the Maduro regime. Now, after the resounding and indisputable electoral victory that we Venezuelans achieved on July 28, the regime’s response is murder, kidnapping and persecution,” Machado wrote on social network X.
Thousands of opposition members have taken to the streets of Venezuela since Monday, shouting “Freedom!” to claim the victory at the polls of President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia, according to the opposition’s count.
At the rally in Caracas on Tuesday, González Urrutia called on the military to remain calm in the face of the protests. Also that day, opposition leader Freddy Superlano was arrested by the regime’s authorities, denounced his party Voluntad Popular (VP), which warned of an “escalation of repression.”
The human rights organization Foro Penal has counted at least 11 civilians killed in the protests, including two minors.
“I warn the world about the cruel and repressive escalation of the regime, which to date has seen more than 177 arbitrary arrests, 11 forced disappearances and at least 16 murders in the last 48 hours.”Machado added in his publication on X.
He added: “This is Maduro’s criminal response to the Venezuelan people who took to the streets as a family, as a community, to defend their sovereign decision to be free. These crimes will not go unpunished.”
Machado, who was initially going to be the opposition candidate but was unable to run because the regime prevented her from doing so, after which she endorsed her popularity to González Urrutia, reiterated her campaign slogan “I have told you that we are going all the way and we are going all the way! Now we have a new reason: the sacrifice that you make and have made. I love you,” she expressed in a message to the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have taken to the streets to demand that their vote be respected.
Source: WRITING