Venezuela opposition urges mass anti-Maduro protests

Venezuela's opposition called Tuesday for the "largest movement that has ever existed" to oust President Nicolas Maduro, vowing to pursue all means to force him from power.

The opposition, which has been on a collision course with Maduro since winning control of the legislature in December, spent weeks deciding on its strategy to remove the deeply unpopular socialist president -- whether through a referendum, a constitutional amendment or the drafting of a new constitution.

In the end, it announced its plan was all of the above, and more.

But it placed special emphasis on its call for protests -- emphasizing that they should be peaceful, after anti-government demonstrations that swept the country in 2014 left 43 people dead.

"The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) has taken the unanimous decision to call on the Venezuelan people to launch the largest popular pressure movement that has ever existed, to activate all -- I repeat, all -- mechanisms for change," said the opposition coalition's executive secretary, Jesus Torrealba.
The constitution has been "kidnapped by the regime," he told journalists, after the Supreme Court -- derided by opponents as beholden to Maduro -- struck down the opposition's two-thirds majority and dealt it a series of other blows.

"In the face of this reality, (the opposition) calls for an intense and peaceful national movement to win back the full force of the constitution and rescue democracy," Torrealba said.
Source: AFP