- Title: Venezuela's opposition stages two-day anti-Maduro shutdown
- Date: 26th July 2017
- Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF ROAD WITH MOVING TRAFFIC VARIOUS OF YOUNGSTERS PREPARING MOLOTOV COCKTAIL BOMBS WOMAN BLOCKING ROAD WITH ROPE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED DEMONSTRATOR, SAYING: "To give everything until six in the afternoon. We'll look for the way to fight it out completely and up and forward." VENEZUELAN FLAG SEEN IN BLOCKED STREET RESIDENT CROSSING INTO BLOCKED STREET VARIOUS OF POSTER FEATURING MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITION THAT READS (Spanish): "THIS CONSTITUENT DOES NOT COUNT" RESIDENTS WALKING OUT OF METRO STATION BUS STOP OUTSIDE METRO STATION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) METRO WORKER, JOSE, SAYING: "Yes, the metro still works because we work for the country, without political preferences." RESIDENTS SEEN WALKING IN STREET RESIDENTS WALKING IN EMPTY-LOOKING STREET MOTORCYCLISTS SEEN STANDING NEXT TO BLOCKED ROAD VARIOUS OF MAN READING NEWSPAPER BLOCKED ROAD MAN WALKING UNDER CORDONED OFF ROAD BANK EXTERIOR TELEVISION SCREEN SEEN IN MIDDLE OF STREET RESIDENTS ON SIDE OF ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DEMONSTRATOR, ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "The objective is to continue on the street because we do not support the constituent, we are not in favour of this because we feel the constituent will not solve anything." VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS STANDING NEXT TO BLOCKED ROAD BANNER THAT READS (Spanish): "NO TO THE BAD QUALITY"
- Embargoed: 9th August 2017 16:09
- Keywords: Maduro adversaries national strike pressure weekend election super-congress autocracy Venezuela
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
- Reuters ID: LVA0016RCUGQV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: President Nicolas Maduro's adversaries launched a two-day national strike on Wednesday (July 26) in a final push to pressure him into abandoning a weekend election for a super-congress they say will institutionalize autocracy in Venezuela.
Neighbours gathered from dawn in cities around Venezuela to block roads with rubbish, stones and tape, while many cafes and businesses remained closed in protest against the ruling Socialist Party's planned Constituent Assembly vote.
There was less enthusiasm, however, for the strike in working-class neighbourhoods and rural zones where the government has traditionally drawn more support.
Overall, fewer people appeared to be heeding the shutdown than the millions who participated in a 24-hour strike last week.
The opposition, which has majority support after years in the shadow of Maduro's popular predecessor Hugo Chavez, says Sunday's election is a farce designed purely to keep the Socialist Party in power. Its No. 1 demand is conventional elections, including for the presidency, to remove Maduro.
Over 100 have been killed since protests against Maduro began in early April. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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