The leader of the Venezuelan opposition Maria Corina Machado, who for several days had not appeared in public, last night joined her supporters who took to the streets of the capital Caracas to protest against the disputed results of the presidential election. There were protest demonstrations all over the country and thousands of Venezuelans participated in them, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
"We have never been as strong as we are today /.../. Mode has never been so weak. He has lost all legitimacy," Machado told the crowd. "We will not leave the streets," she warned. "They (the authorities) have not handed over a single protocol (from the polling stations). The truth is in the protocols... We will not give up standing up for the truth," Machado said, quoted by AFP.
The National Electoral Council (NIC) yesterday expectedly confirmed the victory of President Nicolás Maduro with 52% of the vote, but did not provide detailed information on the votes cast in each polling station, claiming it was the victim of a hacker attack.
The opposition claims that it has all the ballots and that it won with 67% of the votes.
Supported by supporters who chanted "Freedom! Freedom!", María Machado arrived at today's rally in an elite neighborhood of Caracas shortly before 1 p.m., mounted on a truck with the words "Venezuela wins".
Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who urgently replaced Machado after she was barred from the election, was not present at the protest.
Maduro has continued to threaten the two opposition leaders he holds responsible for the deaths in Monday's riots (at least 11 people, according to non-governmental organizations), and said he faces prison. On Thursday, in an article in the "Wall Street Journal" Machado said he was hiding because he feared for his life.