Venezuela: Thousands March Across the Country to Demand Elections, in Largest Opposition Protest in Nearly Two Years

Caracas — Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on Thursday in the first nationwide opposition protest in nearly two years, demanding free elections and political changes, according to Reuters. The mobilization, organized by opposition leader María Corina Machado's Vente Venezuela movement, took place in Caracas and was replicated in cities including Valencia, Maracay, San Cristóbal and Maracaibo.

Machado, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has said elections must take place before July 2027. "Seeing this makes me happy because I know change is possible," said Leosmary Hernández, an 18-year-old cosmetology student, as she marched with hundreds of people in northern Maracay. "I've been through so many hardships, so many problems because of the dollar, and difficulties studying. I have high hopes for my country and for our next leader, president María Corina," she added.

The protest comes in an unprecedented political context: the United States has been working closely with the interim government led by acting President Delcy Rodríguez since U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January. Both President Donald Trump and Rodríguez have said there will be elections, but neither has set a date for a legislative vote or a national contest for president.

The ruling Socialist Party called for its supporters to march from central Plaza Venezuela in Caracas — the same place the opposition planned to gather two hours later — to a location near the presidential palace to commemorate breast cancer awareness month. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was pictured on state television attending the march, while the opposition moved its protest to a nearby location.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed talks between a faction of the opposition and the interim government, aimed at restructuring the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Electoral Council, held their latest session this month, though they do not include Machado's movement, which she has said she will not obstruct. Protesters also demanded the release of the more than 320 political prisoners reported by the legal rights group Foro Penal, despite the government's denial that it holds prisoners for political reasons.

Photo: Demócrata.es

Source: Reuters