Thousands of protesters in Venezuela took to the streets on Thursday afternoon, demanding presidential elections and the return of María Corina Machado, the opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner.
Demands of the Protesters
In the capital, Caracas, protesters gathered in Venezuela Square, calling for presidential elections to be held as soon as possible, especially by 2027, and for the release of all political prisoners in the country.
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Pedro Maroun, a former congressman and one of the participants in these protests, said, "We will soon have presidential elections, and María Corina will be elected as president." Machado's activist group, Vente Venezuela, led these protests, which resulted in the closure of some streets in Caracas. Protests were also held in the states of Nueva Esparta, Táchira, and Zulia.
Government Response and Political Situation
The ruling party, to which current President Delcy Rodríguez belongs, also held a gathering near the protesters in Caracas to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Since the unintended end of Nicolás Maduro's presidency, protests have become a regular occurrence for the dissatisfied people of Venezuela. Maduro and his successor Hugo Chávez have severely suppressed political dissent. However, since Maduro's removal in January by American forces, protesters have increasingly taken to the streets. According to the international civil society coalition CIVICUS, over 1,101 protests were recorded just in September.
Thursday's protests, described as "the first nationwide opposition protest in nearly two years," coincided with the anniversary of the opposition's primary presidential elections in which Machado emerged victorious.
Machado remains the main face of the opposition in the transition to a democratic government: in a poll conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News, Machado garnered 52% support, while Delcy Rodríguez received only 19%. However, Machado faces many challenges ahead.
These protests took place while Rodríguez met with Dinorah Figueras, an opposition representative supported by the U.S. State Department, at the presidential palace in Venezuela. Three rounds of negotiations between the Venezuelan government and the Figueras group have yet to result in an agreement on holding elections.
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