By Deutsche Welle
01 Dec 2024, 22:36 PM EST
Dozens of opponents demonstrated on Sunday in Venezuela for the freedom of “political prisoners.”“, the majority arrested during the protests that broke out after the questioned re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, who in parallel led an act “in defense of Christmas.”
The protest was called by opposition leader María Corina Machado, in hiding and absent from the rally. He asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to press for the release of just over 1,900 detainees, including 42 minors, according to the NGO Foro Penal.
“I’m tired of living in a country with so much dictatorship, I want to have freedom,” said a protester who asked not to reveal her name, in the midst of a general panic of ending up in prison. He lives in the 23 de Enero neighborhood, a Chavista bastion controlled by groups related to the government.
The protest was reproduced in other cities around the world such as Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Washington, Madrid and even Tokyo.
Maduro was re-elected after the July 28 elections for a third consecutive six-year term by the electoral authority, accused of serving him. The opposition led by Machado accuses him of stealing the election, which, he claims, his candidate Edmundo González Urrutia won.
His proclamation led to demonstrations, which left 28 dead and almost 200 injured.
Meanwhile, Chavismo held a “cultural” demonstration in Caracas to celebrate the four months of the “great popular victory” in the July presidential elections and support Maduro.
Hundreds of supporters of the ruling party, summoned by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), mobilized in different areas of the capital, also to celebrate the Christmas season and the beginning of December.with music, dances and other artistic expressions.
Maduro said that December began “in peace and that is how it should continue.” “Venezuela is the country of joy,” said the president, who is already being investigated by the ICC for the repression of anti-government protests in 2017, which left 125 dead.
Keep reading:
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