Thousands of Venezuelans march to demand Maduro’s release
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Government supporters marching a month after the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in Caracas on Feb 3.
PHOTO: AFP
CARACAS – Thousands of backers of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro, who was ousted in a deadly US-led military operation, marched in Caracas on Feb 3 to demand his freedom.
“Venezuela needs Nicolas,” chanted the crowd, exactly a month after he was spectacularly toppled and whisked away
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has walked a tightrope since then, trying to hold onto support from Washington, but also from the Maduro acolytes in her government and the Venezuelan people.
Several demonstrators, many of them public sector workers, held photos of Maduro and of his wife Cilia Flores, who was also seized in the US raid.
The march, called by the government, stretched for several hundred metres, accompanied by trucks blaring music.
“These people are not American,” said Mr Nicolas “Nicolasito” Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son and a deputy in Venezuela’s National Assembly. “We have achieved a profound anti-imperialist consciousness.”
Many protesters waved Venezuelan flags and were dressed in the red colours of the ruling “Chavista” movement named after Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez.
“We feel confused, sad and angry. There are a lot of emotions,” said Mr Jose Perdomo, a 58-year-old municipal employee, who said he backed “the decisions taken by our interim President Delcy Rodriguez”.
He added that “sooner or later they will have to free our president”.
‘Prosperous and democratic’
Ms Rodriguez was a staunch backer of Maduro and served as his vice-president.
US President Donald Trump has said he is willing to work with her as long as she toes Washington’s line, particularly on granting access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Under pressure, Ms Rodriguez has started freeing political prisoners
The countries have re-established diplomatic relations, which were severed in 2019 after Maduro was accused of stealing his first re-election, with American envoy Laura Dogu’s arrival in Caracas on Jan 31.
On Feb 3, in a video issued by the US mission, she pointed to a three-phase plan for the crisis-stricken South American country, ending in “the transition to a friendly, stable, prosperous and democratic Venezuela”.
Ms Rodriguez confirmed the meeting, calling it a “frank conversation.”
Freedom ‘in the streets’
Earlier on Feb 3, hundreds of university students and relatives of political prisoners also marched in the capital, calling for the quick approval of an amnesty law promised by Ms Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said on Feb 3 she’s working “intensely” on the amnesty law “that would allow us, in this whole period of political violence, of extremism, to carry out a national policy.”
The law has not yet come before Parliament, whose leader is the acting President’s brother Jorge Rodriguez, another staunch Chavista and Maduro backer.
Opposition deputy Stalin Gonzalez told AFP he expects the first debate on amnesty to be brought to the floor on Feb 5.
“I hope that the amnesty opens the door to reconciliation, coexistence, peace and democracy,” he said.
Anti-government protests have been rare since the crackdown on demonstrations against Maduro’s contested claim to another re-election in 2024.
More than 2,000 people were jailed at the time.
“Freedom is in the streets and no one can stop it!” chanted the crowd.
The opposition in Venezuela has been calling for a fresh election to be held after Maduro’s ouster. AFP
