Guaidó returns to Caracas streets where Chavism shows its strength

Caracas, Feb 12 (EFE).- Chavism showed its strength in the streets of Caracas on Saturday with a demonstration that crossed the opposition stronghold of Plaza Altamira, unthinkable until recently, on a day in which former deputy Juan Guaidó summoned his supporters for the first time in almost two years.

Guaidó’s call is the first since March 2020, days before the first cases of Covid-19 in Venezuela, despite the fact that, since then, both the 2020 parliamentary elections and the 2021 local and regional polls have been held.

He gathered some 300 people in Plaza Bolívar in Chacao, one of the five municipalities that make up Caracas.

However, after walking several blocks, they did not reach the next Plaza Altamira, officially known as Plaza Francia and the epicenter of the demonstrations against the different Chavista governments.

Shortly after, the ruling party led by deputy Nicolás Maduro Guerra, son of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, crossed it.

In front of his supporters, Guaidó proposed to renew the leadership of the opposition with a “call for a grassroots process.”

“Unity must be strengthened, leadership must be renewed, all sectors must be incorporated. We must legitimize the base, (make) a consultation with our people, not only (about) who will be candidates in the future (…) also of leadership,” he said.

Although he did not clarify how he plans to launch this resurgence, his team said in a subsequent statement that it is a “call for a grassroots process for the people to elect the leadership of the democratic forces in all levels.”

The opponent also told his supporters that “there is an even simpler message” and that is that “the dictatorship” that he considers to be exercised by Maduro “has an expiration date.”

“They have an expiration date and, therefore, Venezuela (has a date) of rebirth. Venezuela is going to be reborn as a republic, as a nation. To materialize that free and fair election, it will not come for free, it will not be a gift from the dictatorship, it will not be a gift from those who have hijacked power,” he said.

For all these reasons, he said that on Saturday they met in the streets “to move forward” and reorganize because, in his opinion, the Maduro government is afraid “of the powerful majority” that opposes it.

He also promised to visit “every corner” of the country to try to activate those who oppose the current government and re-mobilize anti-Chavismo.

At the gates of the National Assembly (parliament), Maduro received his supporters, who traveled nearly 14 kilometers through the streets of the capital and, from his podium, criticized a “cowardly left.”

“Chávez was attacked in life and is still attacked by a cowardly left that is still envious of the example and legacy of the giant Chávez; a cowardly left that does not dare to confront capitalism and the oligarchy and is envious of Chávez and the Venezuelan people,” he said.

The Venezuelan president has recently received various criticisms from left-wing political leaders in the region and his country, however, on this occasion he did not detail who he classifies as the “cowardly left.” EFE

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