MIAMI.- A large group of Venezuelans and people of other nationalities gathered in front of the former Venezuelan consulate building in Miami to express their outrage at the impossibility of voting in their country’s presidential elections this Sunday.
Carrying banners, flags and clothing alluding to Venezuela, the protesters sang the national anthem “Gloria al bravo pueblo” (Glory to the brave people) while denouncing the restrictions imposed by the Maduro regime that prevent them from exercising their right to vote from abroad.
“My wife is Venezuelan, my son was born here, but all of us have been forced to leave our country in some way to settle in this great nation,” said Rafael Pineyro, a Doral city councilman of Venezuelan origin.
“This regime has imprisoned and murdered thousands of Venezuelans; it has forced many others into exile. Today we will put an end to this nightmare and the Venezuela we left behind will be reborn,” said the municipal legislator.
Although 21 million Venezuelans are eligible to vote in the elections, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), only 69,000 will be able to do so from abroad, which represents just 0.32% of the electoral roll.
The Venezuelan Electoral Observatory (OEV) has denounced that the regime’s authorities imposed obstacles and restrictive regulations that prevented the registration of millions of Venezuelans outside the country.
“We have fought for TPS and for democracy in Venezuela, but today we are here because this place, the former Venezuelan consulate, should be full of thousands of Venezuelans voting,” lamented Venezuelan activist Adelys Ferro.
She added that “unfortunately, the Maduro regime stole our right to vote. We should be voting in this building, the dictatorship took that right from us, but what it will never be able to steal from us is the right to protest in this country of freedom.”
“We are at a crucial moment in Venezuela’s history,” said Venezuelan activist Nerlitt Torres.
“Our love for Venezuela is immense, our desire to walk through its streets is very great once our country is free. It is our time to be messengers of peace, to carry the cause of Venezuela as the voice of all those who believe in democracy, justice, peace and progress,” he stressed.
The demonstration, which brought together around 150 people, became a symbol of the fight for democracy and the right to vote for Venezuelans abroad.
For her part, Helene Villalonga, another Venezuelan activist and co-organizer of the protest, said: “Today marks 24 years since I arrived in this country in search of freedom and life. We are fleeing a regime that oppresses the heart of every Venezuelan. We have to fight for human rights, each one of us.”
The demonstration was marked by chants evoking Venezuela’s struggle for freedom, and culminated with an emotional prayer of the “Our Father,” in which divine intervention was implored to guarantee justice and transparency in today’s elections in the South American country.
By the afternoon, other events in support of Venezuelan democracy were also announced in Miami-Dade, in places such as El Arepazo in Doral and José Martí Park in Miami.