[News] Venezuela Opposition Leaders Call for More Anti-Govt Protests

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuela-Opposition-Leaders-Call-for-More-Anti-Govt-Protests-20170605-0011.html 



  Venezuela Opposition Leaders Call for More Anti-Govt Protests

June 5, 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Venezeula solidifies the details of the national Constituent Assembly 
that will be charged with rewriting the 1999 Constitution, high-profile 
opposition leaders have continued to fire back against President Nicolas 
Maduro, rejecting the process and calling for a "full rebellion" against 
the government.

Jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/The-Distorted-Democracy-of-Leopoldo-Lopez-20150129-0022.html> released 
a video on his Twitter account Sunday calling for more anti-government 
protests. The statement came after he held a meeting with former Spanish 
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a mediator in the stalled 
Unasur-backed dialogue process aimed at smoothing tensions between the 
government and opposition — a process that Lopez' Popular Will 
party boycotted.

Lopez praised the right-wing demonstrations 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuela-Seizes-Explosive-Weapons-from-Armed-Right-Wing-Groups-20170525-0010.html>, 
which have often spilled over into violence, saying the “rebellion, 
resistance and the protests are legitimate” against a government that is 
“despotic” and “tyrannical.” He also expressed "admiration" for the 
protesters, characterizing them as "peaceful" despite a rising death 
toll from incidents linked to violent acts during protests.

"There is a critical struggle, we are in a historic moment and I am sure 
that we will be victorious," Lopez said from Ramo Verde prison, where he 
met with Zapatero, in the video posted by his wife Lilian Tintori, who 
runs his Twitter account.

    Asumí el riesgo de enviar este primer video porque quiero sepan
    directamente mi posición sobre la calle: https://t.co/2qT5eFsfpC

    — Leopoldo López (@leopoldolopez) June 5, 2017
    <https://twitter.com/leopoldolopez/status/871522334477344769>

*"I assumed the risk of sending this first video because I want you** to 
know directly my position on the street (protests)."*

Lopez has been in prison since 2015 for inciting violence in the deadly 
"guarimbas" protests 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/multimedia/Deadly-Guarimbas-in-Venezuela-20170130-0025.html>, 
or violent street blockades, that led to the deaths of 43 people. He was 
sentenced to 13 years for his involvement in planning and promoting the 
violent blockades which injured hundreds and caused billions of dollars 
in damages to public buildings and infrastructure.

Lopez and his wife Tintori have been outspoken opponents of Maduro and 
the Bolivarian Revolution launched by late President Hugo Chavez. Since 
her husband's imprisonment, Tintori has embarked on an international 
campaign to smear 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Trump-Meets-with-Wife-of-Jailed-Venezuealan-Opposition-Leader--20170215-0038.html> 
the government of Maduro, including meeting with figures such as U.S. 
President Donald Trump.

    *RELATED: *
    Venezuela Seizes Explosives from Armed Right-Wing Groups
    <http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuela-Seizes-Explosive-Weapons-from-Armed-Right-Wing-Groups-20170525-0010.html>

Lopez has become one of the most iconic faces of the Venezuelan 
opposition, selling himself as a political prisoner despite his long and 
sordid history 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/The-Distorted-Democracy-of-Leopoldo-Lopez-20150129-0022.html> 
in Venezuelan politics.

Last week, a judge involved in Lopez’s case was murdered in Caracas’ El 
Paraiso district.

Meanwhile, head of the right-wing opposition-controlled National 
Assembly, Julio Borges, echoed Lopez’s called for an escalation of 
protests, citing the opposition's continued rejection of the Constituent 
Assembly, called by Maduro to promote dialogue. Insistent calls for 
protests, rather than backing the Constituent Assembly process, has been 
seen as laying bare the fact that the opposition's only proposal and 
objective is ousting Maduro’s government.

“The call is that we continue in absolute rebellion (against) the 
Constituent Assembly ... because the country unanimously rejects the 
communist Constituent Assembly," he stated Sunday during a press 
conference of the right-wing opposition coalition, Democratic Unity 
Table, known by its Spanish acronym MUD.

Borges said street marches will continue and that they will not allow 
the Constituent Assembly process to move forward.

Venezuela's top electoral official announced Sunday that the vote to 
elect 545 repersentatives to the national Constituent Assembly will 
likely take place on July 30.

-- 
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863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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