Source: ‘Keep up the fight,’ Venezuela opposition leader says on eve of protests
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado urged supporters Friday to “keep up the fight” on the eve of protests called against the election victory claimed by strongman Nicolas Maduro but widely rejected at home and abroad.
Anti-Maduro protests have claimed 25 lives so far, with dozens injured and more than 2,400 arrested since the July 28 vote that both the president and opposition say they had won.
Machado had called for fresh demonstrations in more than 300 cities in Venezuela and abroad on Saturday — what she called a “Protest for the Truth.”
She will participate in a march in the capital, Caracas, where supporters of the regime have also vowed to gather.
The country’s National Electoral Council proclaimed Maduro the winner of a third six-year term, giving him 52% of votes cast, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.
The opposition says polling station-level results show its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, won more than two-thirds of the vote.
Gonzales Urrutia had replaced Machado on the ballot after her candidacy was blocked by institutions loyal to Maduro, in office since 2013.
The duo has been mostly in hiding since the president accused them after the election of seeking to foment a coup and called for them to be jailed.
Maduro’s victory claim has been rejected by the United States, European Union and several Latin American countries.
委内瑞拉反对派领导人玛丽亚·科里纳·马查多周五敦促支持者在抗议活动前夕“继续战斗”，抗议强人尼古拉斯·马杜罗宣称但遭到国内外广泛拒绝的选举胜利。 自 7 月 28 日总统和反对派均称自己获胜以来，反马杜罗抗议活动已造成 25 人死亡，数十人受伤，2,400 多人被捕。 马查多呼吁周六在委内瑞拉和国外 300 多个城市举行新的示威活动，她称之为“真理抗议”。 她将参加在首都加拉加斯举行的游行，该政权的支持者也誓言要在那里集会。 该国全国选举委员会宣布马杜罗赢得第三个六年任期，获得 52% 的选票，但没有提供详细的选举结果。 反对派表示，投票站的结果显示其候选人埃德蒙多·冈萨雷斯·乌鲁蒂亚赢得了三分之二以上的选票。 冈萨雷斯·乌鲁蒂亚在选票上取代马查多，因为她的候选资格被忠于2013 年以来就任的马杜罗机构阻止。 自从总统在选举后指控他们试图煽动政变并要求将他们投入监狱以来，这两人大部分时间都躲藏起来。 马杜罗的胜利宣称遭到美国、欧盟和一些拉美国家的拒绝。
