Venezuelans Begin Nationwide Strike Against Referendum Sought by Maduro

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s attempt to use Latin hit “Despacito” – which means “slowly” – to inject some cool into his controversial new congress has backfired quickly.

The Trump administration is keeping all options on the table, including possible sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, if President Nicolas Maduro goes ahead with plans to create a controversial new congress, a USA official said on Wednesday.

“As President Trump has made clear”, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, “the United States will not ignore the Maduro regime’s ongoing efforts to undermine democracy, freedom, and the rule of law”.

The opposition, which organized an unofficial referendum against the constitutional revision in which a third of the electorate rejected Maduro’s plan, has called for a boycott of Sunday’s vote.

Visits to Venezuela by the presidents of Colombia and Bolivia this month fueled speculation Havana would be asked to mediate the economic and social crises at the requests by those governments but Cuba dismissed those rumors Wednesday when it said it would not intervene.

“The authorities have an obligation not to accept such statements and I do not understand why many of them remain silent”, David Choquehuanca said on Wednesday, arguing that Venezuela had fallen victim to outside aggression aimed at seizing its natural resources, such as oil, gold and freshwater. “We’re going to do everything we can to stop that from happening”. “There’s no food to be found, you can’t go to work with all the strikes, and there is no security”, she said.

In his lengthy TV show, Maduro urged the opposition to let Venezuelans vote in peace next Sunday, but also said special election centers would be set up to accommodate those blocked by “fascists” at their local vote point.

For months, violence has been spiraling out of control as people struggle with a shortage of medicine and food. The official and two others briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in keeping with White House practices.

Since early April, Venezuela saw mass protests after the decision of the Supreme Court to take over legislative powers from the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

The opposition plastered election centres with slogans on Monday in a final week-long push to force Maduro into aborting the election.

Near-daily protests against the Maduro government have grown increasingly desperate.

Since the beginning of this wave of protests, 103 people have been killed and thousands more injured.

But Maduro appears likely to proceed with the assembly.

The Federation of Chambers and Commerce and Production of Venezuela (Fedecamaras) confirmed their participation in the strike as well.

“No more dictatorship!” read signs on road barricades in eastern Caracas.

The killing Wednesday came on the first of a two-day general strike called by opponents of President Nicolas Maduro.

But the venezuelan president, whose term ends in January 2019, has reaffirmed its determination, calling on the opposition to “respect the right of the people to vote freely” and “without violence”.

The Confederation of Venezuelan Workers announced that it would join the 48-hour strike.

Now, both sides are rallying support for ahead of the July 30 vote.

The meeting at the house of Leopoldo Lopez, a prominent opposition leader recently granted house arrest after three years in jail, sparked rumours of a possible behind-the-scenes negotiation of Venezuela’s crisis.