The Mesa de la Unidad Democratica (MUD), the country’s official opposition bloc, released its schedule for protest actions in Caracas for the next three day. The announcement came via National Assembly vice president Freddy Guevara.
The MUD’s protest schedule for the next three days in Caracas is as follows:
- Monday: Education outreach program on Articles 333 and 350 of the Constitution (which establish a duty to help restore democratic order and ignore tyrannical rulers, respectively), as well as student-led protests starting at noon.
- Tuesday: A march for freedom of expression in solidarity with Venezuelan journalists, as well as a parliamentary session.
- Wednesday: A “great national lockdown”, to take place throughout the country for at least four consecutive hours.
Today marks the 86th consecutive day that the country has seen widespread protests against the Maduro regime.
La Carlota Airbase Fence Gets Reinforced
The perimeter fence of the La Carlota airbase in Caracas was reinforced today with barbed wire on a critical stretch facing the Francisco Fajardo highway, presumably in an attempt to dissuade protesters from attacking the fence as they have over the past three days.
Below, a video of the fence with the barbed wire. Note that the wire has been placed at head-level (as opposed to on the top of the fence):
The stretch of the fence has become a flashpoint in recent days following the killing of a protester named David Vallenilla on Thursday at approximately the same spot. Vallenilla was shot in the throat by a National Guard soldier while participating in a protest near the fence.
Lucena: Don’t Agree with Constituent Assembly? Don’t Vote
Tibisay Lucena, the head of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), said in an interview today that Venezuelans who do not agree with the creation of the Constituent Assembly should simply not vote on the elections to select members for the assembly which are scheduled for July 30.
Among the many responsibilities that Lucena bears as the head of the institution that organizes is carries out elections is to encourage and facilitate participation in electoral processes.
Lucena made the comment during a television interview that aired on the Televen network. The comment came while Lucena was attempting to address concerns that the country’s political opposition or its supporters might somehow try to disrupt the vote.
Those who disagree with the constituent [Assembly] can abstain [from voting], but they cannot stop electors from exercising their rights.
A survey from last month revealed that an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans–a full 66%–do not want there to be a Constituent Assembly. An even larger majority (84.3%) believe that the matter should have been put to a referendum vote, instead of simply having it imposed on the country by Maduro.
The Constituent Assembly will be tasked with re-writing the country’s constitution, a move that regime critics say has the potential to entrench dictatorial powers for Maduro in the country’s legal fabric.
NGO: Journalists Suffer 376 Attacks in 86 Days
The Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa [National Syndicate of Press Workers] (NSPW) announced today that it had tallied attacks against 376 journalists in the country in the 86 days since the current wave of anti-regime protests began.
The attacks are spread out across 238 individual reported cases.
According to the NSPW, the National Guard was responsible for 60.5% of all attacks against journalists since March 31, all of which took place while journalists were covering the anti-regime protests.
The syndicate also announced that 33 journalists have been “illegally detained” while conducting their duties in the country. The current status of those individuals is not immediately clear.
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