Venezuela opposition leader urges public, army, on strike
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez called on Venezuelans to support a 48-hour general strike beginning Wednesday in protest of government plans to rewrite the constitution, in his first direct public message since being released from prison to house arrest.
The 46-year-old former Caracas-area mayor, who was sentenced to 14 years in 2015 after being convicted of inciting violence during a previous spate of protests, also appealed to the military not to deploy for Sunday’s election of a constituent assembly tasked with overhauling the embattled nation’s charter.
“We are on the brink of their trying to annihilate the republic that you swore to defend,’’ Lopez said in a 15-minute video
message. “I ask you not to be accomplices in the annihilation of the republic.’’
Streets were quiet Wednesday morning in much of the capital, Caracas, as many residents stayed home in observance
of the strike. President Nicolas Maduro is promoting the constitution rewrite as a means of resolving Venezuela’s political standoff and economic crisis, but opposition leaders are boycotting it. The assembly could dramatically reshape government and help Maduro further consolidate his power. Three days of protests are planned leading up to Sunday’s vote, starting with the strike and culminating Friday with a demonstration billed as a “takeover of Caracas.’’
“I want to tell the Venezuelan people that in mind, spirit and conviction, I have accompanied you in this fight on the streets,’’ Lopez said from his home, where he is monitored with an electronic bracelet. “And you all know that if I could, I would physically be at the front.’’ The government-stacked Supreme Court released Lopez in early July, pointing to possible “irregularities’’ in his case. The release surprised government supporters and foes alike because the high court has not previously shown any misgivings about its rulings.