Nationwide strike called, raising political tensions
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan opposition leaders called Monday for a 24-hour nationwide strike to increase pressure on the socialist government after more than 7 million people rejected a plan to rewrite the constitution and consolidate the ruling party’s power over the country.
The opposition said the country’s National Assembly, which it controls, would name new members to the governmentdominated Supreme Court, setting up a showdown with President Nicolas Maduro, whose party controls nearly all other state institutions. Opposition parties also plan to sign a declaration calling for the formation of an alternative “government of national unity,” a step toward total rejection of government authority.
“Overall the package is pretty radical, especially the idea of a parallel government,” said David Smilde, a Tulane University expert on Venezuela.
After some procedural moves in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the opposition said it would launch a plan it called “zero hour” on Wednesday that includes an agreement to form an alternate government and create 2,000 local committees that would function as street-level support for the opposition.
That will be followed Thursday by a national strike, which could bring much of Venezuela’s already sputtering economy to a standstill. Venezuela’s largest chamber of commerce told the Associated Press that its mem- bers would not punish employees for participating in the strike.
“We call on the whole country to launch a 24hour national strike this Thursday, a massive, nonviolent protest, as a way to pressure the government and to prepare for the final steps, which will be next week, to confront this fraud ... and to restore constitutional order,” opposition leader Freddy Guevara said. He didn’t say what the final steps would be.
The opposition said 7.6 million Venezuelans participated in Sunday’s symbolic referendum rejecting Maduro’s plans for the July 30 election of an assembly that would remake the country’s political system.