Latest news with #DiosdadoCabello
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Venezuela Suspends Flights From Colombia to Prevent ‘Entry of Mercenaries'
Venezuelan Security Minister Diosdado Cabello on May 19 announced the suspension of flights from Colombia due to the possible entry of 'mercenaries,' days before the legislative and regional elections scheduled for May 25. Cabello claimed these 'mercenaries' are part of a plan to destabilize the country.
News.com.au
25-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Maduro party eyes big win as Venezuela opposition boycotts vote
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's party was eyeing a landslide victory in legislative and regional elections Sunday, after a wave of arrests of opposition members who called for a massive boycott of the vote. The main opposition group, led by popular figurehead Maria Corina Machado, had urged voters to stay away in protest at Maduro's disputed reelection last year. Among the dozens arrested ahead of Sunday's vote was leading opposition member Juan Pablo Guanipa, who was being held on charges of heading a "terrorist network" planning to "sabotage" the elections. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello linked Guanipa, a former lawmaker, to a group of 50 people arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of being mercenaries in the pay of foreign powers. Venezuela, which frequently alleges foreign-backed coup plots, said the suspects entered the country from Colombia and closed the busy border with its neighbor until after the election. Tensions were high on Sunday, with more than 400,000 security agents deployed to monitor the vote. Some 21 million voters were eligible to cast ballots for 285 members of the National Assembly and 24 governors -- including for the first time in Essequibo, an oil-rich region controlled by neighboring Guyana but claimed by Caracas. Turnout was however projected to be just 16 percent, according to pollster Delphos, after the main opposition urged Venezuelans not to legitimize what they see as yet another sham election. - 'Farce' - Many in Venezuela lost any remaining faith they had in the electoral process after last July's presidential vote. Electoral authorities quickly declared Maduro the winner without releasing detailed results. The opposition however published its own tally from individual polling stations, showing a convincing win for candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who has since gone into exile abroad. The crackdown on post-election protests left 28 dead, hundreds arrested, and cemented Venezuela's pariah status on the world stage. Opposition leader Machado had slammed this weekend's vote as an "enormous farce that the regime is trying to stage to bury its defeat." On Sunday, she published several pictures of deserted polling places on social media. Polls opened at 6:00 am (1000 GMT), but by midday AFP journalists at polling stations in Caracas, San Cristobal and Barinas reported that just a handful of voters had turned out. "It's an important process of citizen participation," said Samadi Romero, a 32-year-old university student who voted for Maduro's son for the National Assembly. "I'm not going to vote because I voted (in the presidential election) and they stole the elections. So it's really a farce," said Candelaria Rojas Sierra, a 78-year-old retired civil servant in San Cristobal, on her way to mass to "pray for Venezuela." - 'Fight the dictatorship' - Polls officially close at 6:00 pm (2200 GMT). A small opposition faction led by two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles had rejected the boycott call, arguing that previous voter stayaways had merely allowed Maduro to expand his grip on power. "We must vote as an act of resistance, of struggle," said Capriles, who is running for the National Assembly. A message on Guanipa's X account shortly after his arrest declared he had been "kidnapped by the forces of Nicolas Maduro's regime" but would continue the "long fight against the dictatorship." - US blow to oil revenues - Only a handful of countries, including longtime allies Russia and Cuba, have recognized Maduro as the country's rightful leader. Sunday's election comes as the country's economy -- once the envy of Latin America, now in tatters after years of mismanagement and sanctions -- faces even further turmoil. US President Donald Trump has revoked permission for oil giant Chevron to continue pumping Venezuelan crude, potentially depriving Maduro's administration of its last lifeline. Washington has also revoked deportation protection from 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in the United States and expelled hundreds of others to a maximum security prison in El Salvador. Particularly closely watched will be the elections for the National Assembly and for state governor of Essequibo. Guyana has administered the region for decades but Caracas has threatened to partially annex it.
Free Malaysia Today
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Venezuelan opposition leader Guanipa arrested
Juan Pablo Guanipa had been in hiding since a presidential election last year. (EPA Images pic) CARACAS : Well-known Venezuela opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close ally of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, is under arrest for allegedly leading a terrorist plot, interior minister Diosdado Cabello said yesterday. Officials regularly accuse the opposition of conspiring with countries such as the US to commit terrorism, overthrow president Nicolas Maduro and attack Venezuela's power grid. The opposition and Washington have always denied the accusations. Guanipa's arrest comes just days ahead of Venezuela's parliamentary elections. Seventy people, including foreigners, have been detained in the alleged plot to carry out attacks during tomorrow's regional and legislative elections, Cabello said, adding that Guanipa also faces charges of money laundering and inciting hatred. Guanipa, a 60-year-old lawyer and long-time politician, had been in hiding since a presidential election last year. Machado, who was barred from running for president but remains popular among many Venezuelans, is also in hiding. 'He thought he was untouchable, invisible,' Cabello said in a statement broadcast on state television, showing a video of Guanipa, clad in a flak jacket, being arrested by masked agents. Electoral authorities and the country's top court backed Maduro as last year's election winner, but have not offered ballot box level tallies of votes. The opposition, which has published detailed tallies, says its candidate roundly won, and international observers have said the vote was not democratic. The opposition and rights groups have decried a brutal crackdown by the government, including arrests, since the 2024 election. Guanipa said his arrest was motivated by the government's fear of the Venezuelan people and their votes last year. 'Brothers, if you are reading this it is because I have been kidnapped by the forces of the regime of Nicolas Maduro,' he said in a statement posted to his X account. 'I don't know what will happen to me in the coming hours, days and weeks. But I am sure that we will win this long fight against the dictatorship.' 'To Juan Pablo and all our imprisoned colleagues: every moment of our lives is dedicated to freeing you and all of Venezuela,' Machado said in her own post on X. She said 50 political activists, human rights defenders and journalists are among those arrested. Guanipa's brother Pedro was arrested in September for alleged corruption at the mayor's office in Maracaibo, where he was an official.
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Venezuela Holds an Opposition Leader on Poll-Boycott Claims
Venezuela detained former lawmaker Juan Pablo Guanipa on Friday, a close aide of opposition leader María Corina Machado, just days before regional and parliamentary elections Sunday. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Guanipa was leading a 'terrorist group' involved in a plot to boycott Sunday's vote. He was charged with terrorism, money laundering and incitement of violence, among others, Cabello said.
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Venezuela Detains an Opposition Leader on Poll-Boycott Claims
Venezuela detained former lawmaker Juan Pablo Guanipa on Friday, a close aide of opposition leader María Corina Machado, just days before regional and parliamentary elections Sunday. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Guanipa was leading a 'terrorist group' involved in a plot to boycott Sunday's vote. The plot included the use of grenades and other explosive devices, Cabello said.
