Venezuela braces for protests as Maduro inauguration looms

Caracas — Venezuelan opposition parties and their supporters are set to hold protests around the country on Thursday in an 11th-hour effort to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro a day before he is due to be sworn in for his third six-year term.

The opposition and the ruling party are locked in an ongoing dispute over last year’s presidential election, which they both claim to have won.

The country’s electoral authority and top court say Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the July vote, though they have not published detailed tallies.

The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, said it will arrest opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez should he return to the country, It has also detained prominent opposition members and activists in the lead-up to the inauguration.

The opposition says Gonzalez, 75, won in a landslide. It has published vote tallies as evidence, winning support from governments around the world, including the US, which considers Gonzalez the president-elect.

Maria Corina Machado, the country’s most popular opposition leader who was barred from running in 2024, has pledged to join protesters on Thursday.

Her appearance would mark her first public outing since she went into hiding in August.

Machado, 57, has urged protesters to peacefully flood the streets and repeatedly asked members of the police and military — who guarded voting stations during the election — to back Gonzalez’s victory.

The ruling party is expected to host a similar march.

Maduro, 62, has been in power since 2013. He has the vociferous support of leaders in the armed forces and the intelligence services, which are run by close allies of powerful interior minister Diosdado Cabello.

“I am convinced nothing will happen,” Cabello said on state television on Monday. “But that doesn’t mean we will lower our guard.”

The military’s financial interests make shifts in loyalty unlikely, analysts at BancTrust, a London-based investment bank, said in a note. “A limited military rebellion would entail significant risks for those involved, thus diminishing incentives to participate,” they added.

The government has deployed heavy military security in Caracas, especially near presidential palace Miraflores.

Gonzalez, who has been on a tour of the Americas this week, meeting with US President Joe Biden and president-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has repeatedly pledged to return to Venezuela but given no details.

An arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez for alleged conspiracy, prompting his September flight to Spain.

Machado is being investigated by the attorney-general in at least two cases, but no warrant for her has been made public.

The government has detained several politicians and activists, including a former presidential candidate. This week, the attorney-general’s office said it had freed more than 1,500 of the 2,000 people, including teenagers, detained during post-election protests.

Reuters