The people in Venezuela are facing a collapsing currency, food and medical shortages, soaring inflation, and widespread social unrest.
Just this week, opposition to president Maduro organized to protest in the streets, ahead of a referendum being held that is seeking to elect a constituent assembly that would be tasked with rewriting the nation's constitution.
The government issued a nationwide ban on protests and that came after a 2 day national strike that thousands of workers took part in.
Those who are protesting in the streets say that they want the president to abandon the plans to rewrite the constitution for the country and many others want to see him step down from his position and for a new election to be held.
Maduro insists that it's necessary to rewrite the constitution in order to establish order and peace in the region.
Critics have said that their concern is not restricted to simply the action of rewriting the constitution, but that along with that move, there is disagreement and fear for the new power and absolute authority that the newly established legislative body would have.
Thousands of protesters remain seemingly determined to continue their civil disobedience so long as the problems continue to worsen for them and their loved ones.
There have been losses on both sides, for both law enforcement and the protesters.
The vote is expected to take place on Sunday, July 30th, and it's expected that members will be elected who will be charged with rewriting the Constitution that was established almost two decades ago.
It's estimated that roughly 70 percent of the population is opposed to the upcoming vote, according to some opinion polls.
It's expected that things are going to get violent this weekend and many people have been seen stocking-up on food and water at the market, buying whatever they can in the midst of the ongoing food shortages. The government has issued warnings for protesters to stay out of the streets leading up to the vote and the nation-wide ban on protests is in place until Tuesday of next week.
However, political opposition to Maduro has already claimed that they will engage in civil disobedience; there have been protests throughout the week.
Pics:
Meridith Kohut for NYT via nytimes.com/2017/07/29/world/americas/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-constituent-assembly.html
AFP via pulse.ng/world/in-venezuela-shadow-high-court-judge-jailed-id7043602.html
Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo via Toronto Sun
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/28/venezuela-protests-government-ban-nicolas-maduro
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/fear-spreads-in-venezuela-ahead-of-planned-protest-of-controversial-election/2017/07/28/caef4bd4-73a0-11e7-8c17-533c52b2f014_story.html?tid=ss_fb-bottom&utm_term=.2ae9e5a10290
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/26/americas/venezuela-48-hour-strike/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-protests-tipping-point_us_597b7f31e4b02a8434b653a0?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=news_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000021
http://www.torontosun.com/2017/07/29/violent-protests-continue-as-venezuela-prepares-for-vote-to-rewrite-constitution
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN1AE0JO
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It is difficult for what we are currently going through in our country, a strength for all Venezuelans, sigueme @ joserc.vzla
Hi there! Venezuelan here! I'm really impressed about how accurate this post is. We are living our worst crisis ever. We are literally starving as I'm writing this I only have eaten once, and it's 9:34 P.M.
Minimum wage is currently at 25$ monthly, and to have normal life you need 100$ it is impossible to us to live like this. There is a group of Venezuelan people that are mostly working online but it's only a minority. What I earn is barelly enough, still I thank God though.
Tomorrow will be a decisive day for us; a breaking point. Hopefully the International pressure plus our pressure here will break the Goverment apart. Great Post you are quite right on all of your statements!
thx for checking out the post! :) following u now!
Thanks for sharing this information...
The whole world, must know what is happening in my country ... the only statement I should make to your post, is that the protests are not solely for the reform of the constitution, and that the protests havent been just This week ... we've been protesting for 109 days.
Once again, thank you for taking my country into account
Greetings from here/Venezuela!
thanks for checking it out!:)
No to violence !!!! World peace !!
"No to violence !!!!"
So what's your alternative?
That is the ideal ... but how would you feel living under a same regime, for 20 years, where every day you are less taken into account, where every day kill a family of yours, where children starve, where the elderly They die for lack of medicine, where they kill you for claiming what rightfully belongs to you ... there is a breaking point, if the government does not listen to you right, and all it does is to harm you ... unfortunately the next step Is to respond with violence ...
Meanwhile on MSN, the top stories include:
and no mention of Venezuela.
LOL trusty media
Let me guess more power to the A-holes who created this mess. Oh almost forgot and more TAX, that should fix the problems.
The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
Man you are the most productive person in steemit. get a break.... get some rest!
hahaha! surely not the case👌 but thank you for checking out my writing :)
It is terrible what is happening in Venezuela, in my country Argentina has lived a similar event that lasted seven years, in fact today wrote on that subject.
This weekend is going to be a real mess, Argentine journalists who have traveled to cover the news have not let him enter the country, even some were detained.
Thank you very much dear friend @doitvoluntarily for sharing this information.
I wish you a beautiful weekend
Thanks for your concern mate! We are hanging on tight in here. I hope there won't be a massacre tomorrow!
They are really in crisis.
When will the faith in the State end? So much needless loss for the most insane and unnecessary of reasons.
The same thing happening here in Nigeria, some states demands separation, others wants restructuring. My country is just in a mess.
We are facing the worst of dictatorships
If there's one thing communists are known for, it's settling political differences peacefully...
Maduro is a fuc**** cunt!
Upvoted 100% one love bro.
Peaceful resistance gets ignored, violent upheaval is the next course of action for many.
Unsettling stuff, not that my own government and most of the others are not corrupted, but this level of violent ignoring of the majority of citizens is just unbelievable. I just can't imagine any possibility for the government to turn the tide of public resentment.
There are those who prey of discord and disorder. I think of the old saying divide and conquer. I fear that on America's soil at some point. God has blessed us to have not had it sooner. I do expect Venezuela to come to the United States. Anyone preparing out there? WAKE UP FOLKS!!!!!!! TAKE A LESSON!!. ---- Thanks for sharing. - Troy
According to the news here in Chile, just a 9% of the voting population voted, and 25% of them voted blank, since they were public employees who considered the process fraudulent. According to Capriles, they needed 15% of votes for the process to be valid.
http://www.latercera.com/noticia/solo-9-del-padron-electoral-voto-hoy-venezuela-segun-oposicion/
https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/mundo/venezuela/politica/venezuela-la-oposicion-cuenta-hoy-14-muertos/2017-07-29/173124.html
I saw a lot of support for the process via Twitter, hashtag #VenezuelaVotaHoy. There are some videos and pictures of masses of people in the voting premises. But anyways, Twitter is not accurate in terms of representation, less the hashtag.
Something called my attention, this dumbass on Twitter posted this picture, comparing the participation in this constitutional assembly in Venezuela with our recent primary elections in Chile. Here in Chile is quite common that a few people care about primaries (since not all political parties or candidates participate), but STILL we got a higher percentage of participation than them, it was 13%, and Chile today is much less politized than Venezuela, so the contexts are quite different.
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