Voters voice their opposition to Venezuelan president’s reforms

● More than 7m ballots cast in poll government labels as illegitimate

of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said more than 7 million people have cast symbolic votes rejecting his plan to reshape the constitution.

The vote was marred by violence when a 61-yearold woman was killed and four people wounded by gunfire after government supporters on motorcycles swarmed an opposition polling site in a church in western Caracas.

Analysts said the 7,186,170 ballots the opposition says were cast across Venezuela and around the world on Sunbly day were an impressive show of support.

However, it fell short of the opposition’s 7.7 million-vote showing in 2015 legislative elections and the 7.5 million votes that brought President Maduro to power in 2013.

Opposition leaders said that was because it was only able to set up 2,000 polling places in a symbolic exercise the government labelled as illegitimate.

But some supporters said they were disappointed with the result.

“I thought it was going to be more,” said Mariela Arana, a 56-year-old school counsellor. “But these seven million people spoke and it was plenty.”

David Smilde, a Tulane University expert on Venezuela, said the result would likely rally the international community even more strongly against the 30 July vote President Maduro has called to elect members of the assemopponents that will rewrite Venezuela’s 1999 constitution.

The opposition says that vote has been structured to pack the constitutional assembly with government supporters and allow President Maduro to eliminate the few remaining checks on his power, creating a Cuba-style system dominated by his socialist party.

Inside Venezuela, Mr Smilde said leaders of the 20-odd groups in the Democratic Unity opposition coalition were now faced with choosing between tactics ranging from calling a general strike to forming a parallel government to simply working to rally international condemnation of the president’s plans.

“Overall, this vote, I think, makes it difficult for the government to just proceed as planned,” he said. “I think it’s going to embolden the interthe national community to reject it.”

Canada and Mexico were among the countries that issued statements on Sunday evening lauding the opposition exercise.

Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said on Twitter that he was declaring former Mexican President Vicente Fox persona non grata and banning him from the country for conspiring to promote violence and foreign intervention.

Mr Fox travelled to Venezuela on Saturday with a group of Latin American former presidents to show support for the referendum. President Moncada offered no evidence to support his accusations.

Pro-government paramilitary groups attacked voters outside the Our Lady of Carmen Church around 3pm, according to the opposition mayor of the Caracas borough of Sucre, Carlos Ocariz.

chief prosecutor’s office said Xiomara Soledad Scott, a nurse, had been killed and four others wounded in the incident.

Video posted to social media showed massive crowds outside the church and hundreds of people running as motorcyclists rode past and shots rang out.

President Maduro called for an end to violence.

Opponents of Venezuela’s government blame it for turning one of the region’s most prosperous countries into an economic basket case with a shrinking economy, soaring inflation and widespread shortages. The government blames the crisis on an economic war waged by its opponents and outside backers.

Clashes between protesters and police have left at least 93 people dead, 1,500 wounded and more than 500 behind bars.