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Beirut /Â AFP
Demonstrators crowded the streets on Thursday in a test of strength between Venezuela’s government and opponents seeking a referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro, raising fears of violence.
Thousands of protesters dressed in white marched in the east of the capital, waving signs reading “Change now” in what the opposition dubbed “The Taking of Caracas.”
A rival pro-government rally was also taken out in the center of the city. The rallies come at a volatile time for Venezuela, stricken by shortages of food and medicine, violent crime and outbreaks of looting in the once-rich major oil exporter.
“This demonstration will mark a change of direction for Venezuela,” said one opposition protester, Jose Castillo, 32, an oil worker.
“Today we will show that the referendum must take place this year because the people are crying out for it.” Hundreds of soldiers and police in armored cars were deployed.
Opposition leaders brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets to demand quick action on a recall vote that Maduro has vehemently resisted.
“All of Venezuela is mobilizing for the right to vote,” said Jesus Torrealba, the head of the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). He called it “the most important political mobilization of our recent history” and vowed marchers would defy the government’s “strategy of fear, blackmail and intimidation.”
The pro-government “Chavistas”—named after Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez—staged rallies on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They called on their supporters to “defend the revolution” with a massive turnout Thursday at what they call “The Taking of Venezuela.”
“Don’t provoke us because not only are we going to block up Caracas so that no one can enter, but we will also make sure that no one can leave,” said former National Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello.
Maduro has accused the opposition of planning a “coup” and threatened to imprison opposition leaders if violence breaks out at Thursday’s protests. “Squeal, cry or scream, jail is where they’ll go,” he said.
The president said on Wednesday he would ask the Supreme Court to consider a request to lift immunity from prosecution granted to public officials, starting with the country’s lawmakers. The move would allow him to target opposition legislators who control the National Assembly.
‘Recall hunger’
The referendum’s timing lies at the heart of the battle. If it takes place before January 10 and Maduro loses, new elections must be held. If he loses in a recall after that date, he would simply turn over power to his hand-picked vice president.
The polling firm Venebarometro says 64 percent of the electorate would vote against Maduro.
Maduro blames the crisis on the collapse of oil prices and an “economic war” by businesses.
But he faces deep public discontent over shortages of basic goods and an inflation rate projected to hit 720 percent this year.
In 2014, the government crushed weeks-long anti-government protests in a confrontation that left 43 dead and prominent opposition leaders in prison. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who distanced himself from the protests in 2014, said that this time the opposition is banking on mass mobilizations and international pressure to get the government to accept the recall election.
Maduro has lashed out at the protest as a plot by the “fascist right” that “comes directly from North American imperialism.”