The
opposition called for residents to block all roads in their
neighborhoods, restricting access to schools and health services.
Venezuelan opposition leaders have
called on their supporters to block all roads in their neighborhoods
Tuesday as a way of rejecting President Nicolas Maduro's call for a
national constituent assembly, a process to bring together social and
other organizations to rewrite the the country's 1999 constitution.
The proposal was presented by the
president on May Day as an attempt to ease political tensions after
opposition and pro-government supporters have taken to the streets in
near-daily protests for the past month.
But the opposition slammed
Maduro's announcement as a "coup," claiming that it would
consolidate “one more constitutional fraud” and called for
people to rebel in the streets in a fresh round of protests Tuesday.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles warned that Maduro's opponents
will continue to organize against the government.
In recent weeks, waves of protests
have resulted in a number of violent incidents that have led to the
deaths of more than two dozen people with hundreds more injured. Amid
the protests, public institutions including schools and hospitals
sustained damaged and many small businesses were looted.
On Tuesday morning, protesters
began setting up road blocks in various Caracas neighborhoods.
"They want peace,
constituent power, they want elections, constituent power,"
said Maduro during Monday's rally where he announced the new plans
for a constituent assembly.
In 2013, opposition leaders,
including Henrique Capriles, Leopoldo Lopez and María Corina
Machado, signed a statement demanding a constituent assembly to
remove the president.
According to the constitution, the
constituent assembly would be comprised of 500 members, directly
elected by Venezuelans. Maduro said that half of the assembly would
be organized by sectoral organizations instead of political parties,
such as associations of people with disabilities, student groups, the
LGBTQ community, unions, campesino organizations, as well as the
private sector.
Venezuela's current 1999
constitution was written under late President Hugo Chavez's and is
widely regarded as one of the most progressive in the world,
enshrining social rights and creating space for the population to
intervene in political decision-making.
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