Venezuelans protest around the world to pressure Maduro to step down

 / Updated 

By Carmen Sesin

MIAMI — Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are protesting in cities worldwide Saturday to pressure the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, out of office.

Venezuelans filled the streets in more than 70 cities around the world, including Caracas, Miami, Madrid, Milan, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Athens, and Beirut.

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó announced before tens of thousands of cheering supporters in Caracas that humanitarian assistance will begin to flow within the next few days, despite objections by Maduro. In a tweet Friday night, national security adviser John Bolton stated that at the request of Guaidó, the U.S. will “mobilize and transport humanitarian aid.” In a separate tweet Saturday, Bolton urged the “military high command” to “stand on the side of the Venezuelan people.”

“We are breathing air of change and we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Francisco Fermin, an official with the National Assembly in Caracas who has been shot four times during protests in the past. “I plan to continue protesting, and making my voice heard,” he told NBC News in a phone interview.

At a counterprotest in Caracas, Maduro proposed holding early elections for the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Elections for the National Assembly aren’t supposed to take place until 2020. Thousands of public employees and supporters of the government gathered in the city’s downtown for the rally organized by Maduro’s government. These demonstrators danced and raised a banner that bore the photo of late President Hugo Chávez and lettering that read “20 years of popular victories,” according to the Associated Press.

Maduro, a socialist who succeeded Chávez after his death in 2013, was sworn in on Jan. 10 for a second six-year term following an election that was criticized internationally as illegitimate.

An opposition supporter waves a Venezuelan national flag during a gathering with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido in Caracas on Feb. 2, 2019.Federico Parra / AFP – Getty Images

Under Maduro’s rule, the country has been in a downward spiral with growing political discontent. Hyperinflation, high crime rates, as well as, severe shortages in food and medicine, have sent over 3 million Venezuelans fleeing to other countries.

“Venezuelans around the world are united more than ever,” said Karymn Salcedo, an activist in Miami opposed to Maduro’s government with the organization “We Are All Venezuelans.”

“We Venezuelans, have regained hope,” said Salcedo, who is also helping coordinate some of the protests.

source: nbcnews.com