Venezuela's opposition said Wednesday supporters of President Nicolas Maduro attacked its protesters at a rally calling for a referendum on removing the leftist leader from power.
The opposition has called two days of nationwide rallies to pressure Maduro's government to let them advance to the next stage of the lengthy recall vote process.
They accuse Maduro of steering Venezuela, a once-booming oil giant, into an economic crisis marked by severe shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.
On the first day of rallies, Maduro supporters punched and kicked anti-government protesters in Los Teques, a suburb of the capital Caracas, said the opposition coalition pushing the referendum, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
It posted pictures of the clashes on its website (unidadvenezuela.org/2016/08/41767).
Those chased down by the attackers included state lawmaker Clara Mirabal, said MUD.
She "was pursued by the violent attackers before the indifferent gaze of the police," it said.
Turnout was slim for Wednesday's rallies, called by leading opposition figure Henrique Capriles.
Although Maduro's popularity has plunged, the fragmented opposition has struggled to rally mass protests.
Many Venezuelans are too busy standing in line for scarce food and basic goods. Others fear violence or a government crackdown.
The opposition is scrambling to call a referendum by January 10.
After that date, a successful recall vote would simply transfer power to Maduro's hand-picked vice-president rather than trigger new elections.
The president's opponents accuse him of stalling and say he controls both the electoral authority and the Supreme Court.
The electoral authority ruled Monday the opposition had cleared the first hurdle by gathering more than the threshold of 200,000 signatures required to start the process.
In the next stage, Maduro's opponents will have to gather four million signatures in just three days. Authorities have not yet set a date for that step.
Venezuela’s opposition said Wednesday supporters of President Nicolas Maduro attacked its protesters at a rally calling for a referendum on removing the leftist leader from power.
The opposition has called two days of nationwide rallies to pressure Maduro’s government to let them advance to the next stage of the lengthy recall vote process.
They accuse Maduro of steering Venezuela, a once-booming oil giant, into an economic crisis marked by severe shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.
On the first day of rallies, Maduro supporters punched and kicked anti-government protesters in Los Teques, a suburb of the capital Caracas, said the opposition coalition pushing the referendum, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
It posted pictures of the clashes on its website (unidadvenezuela.org/2016/08/41767).
Those chased down by the attackers included state lawmaker Clara Mirabal, said MUD.
She “was pursued by the violent attackers before the indifferent gaze of the police,” it said.
Turnout was slim for Wednesday’s rallies, called by leading opposition figure Henrique Capriles.
Although Maduro’s popularity has plunged, the fragmented opposition has struggled to rally mass protests.
Many Venezuelans are too busy standing in line for scarce food and basic goods. Others fear violence or a government crackdown.
The opposition is scrambling to call a referendum by January 10.
After that date, a successful recall vote would simply transfer power to Maduro’s hand-picked vice-president rather than trigger new elections.
The president’s opponents accuse him of stalling and say he controls both the electoral authority and the Supreme Court.
The electoral authority ruled Monday the opposition had cleared the first hurdle by gathering more than the threshold of 200,000 signatures required to start the process.
In the next stage, Maduro’s opponents will have to gather four million signatures in just three days. Authorities have not yet set a date for that step.
