CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition parties and their supporters are set to hold protests around the country on Thursday in an eleventh-hour effort to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, one day before he is due to be sworn in for his third six-year term.
The opposition and the ruling party are locked in an ongoing dispute over last year’s presidential election, which they both claim to have won.
The country’s electoral authority and top court say Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the July vote, though they have never published detailed tallies.
The government, who has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, said it will arrest opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez should he return to the country and has detained prominent opposition members and activists in the lead-up to the inauguration.
The opposition says Gonzalez, 75, won in a landslide. It has published vote tallies as evidence, winning support from governments around the world, including the United States, who consider Gonzalez the president-elect.
Maria Corina Machado, who is the country’s most popular opposition leader but who was barred from running in 2024, has pledged to join protesters on Thursday.
Her appearance would mark her first public outing since she went into hiding in August.
Machado, 57, has urged protesters to peacefully flood the streets and repeatedly asked members of the police and military – who guarded polling stations during the election – to back Gonzalez’s victory.
Maduro, 62, has been in power since 2013. He has the vociferous support of leaders in the armed forces and the intelligence services, which are run by close allies of powerful Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
“I am convinced nothing will happen,” Cabello said on state television on Monday. “But that doesn’t mean we will lower our guard.”
The military’s financial interests make loyalty shifts unlikely, said BancTrust, a London investment bank, in a note. “A limited military rebellion would entail significant risks for those involved, thus diminishing incentives to participate,” it wrote.
The government has deployed heavy military security in Caracas, especially near presidential palace Miraflores.
The ruling party is expected to host a rival march.
Gonzalez, who has been on a tour of the Americas this week, meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump’s national security advisor, has repeatedly pledged to return to Venezuela but given no details about how.
An arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez for alleged conspiracy, prompting his September flight to Spain.
Machado is being investigated by the attorney general in at least two cases, but no warrant for her has been made public.
The government has detained several high-profile politicians and activists, including a former presidential candidate. This week, the attorney general’s office said it had freed more than 1,500 of the 2,000 people, including teenagers, detained during post-election protests.
