Tight-lipped Maduro faces 24-hour strike for new polls, following referendum
Miami/Caracas — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro faced growing pressure to cancel plans to rewrite the constitution on Monday with an emboldened opposition calling for a 24-hour strike this week and US President Donald Trump warning of "strong and swift economic actions". A day after 7.5-million Venezuelans participated in an unofficial referendum to reject the constituent assembly and to call for fresh elections, the US intensified its criticism of the government. Maduro has yet to comment on the results of the referendum, while other government officials have taken to state television and accused the opposition of overcounting votes. "The US will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles," Trump said in a statement released by the White House. "If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the US will take strong and swift economic actions." Venezuela’s economy is already in a tailspin after a commodity-price collapse was compounded by years of mismanagement. Tripl...
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