MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro says “rightwing” opposition plans to cry foul at July 28 elections and launch a revolt

The Venezuelan ruler said that the candidates not signing an agreement with the CNE were the “puppets of the oligarchy”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warned Friday that the “fascist rightwing” opposition would be crying “foul” after the upcoming July 28 elections and then promote a coup d'état “at any moment.” Maduro insisted he had proof that presidential candidates Edmundo González Urrutia and Enrique Márquez intended to follow that path to ignite “violence” after neither of them signed an agreement to recognize the outcome of the result of the elections earlier this week.

“Why did they register for the elections, what for? They signed up to try to spoil the country, to harm Venezuela again and, they believe, to attempt a coup d'état at any moment, I have proof, I know what I am saying,” Maduro insisted while referring to those two contenders as the “puppets of the oligarchy.”

Hence, Maduro - who did sign such an agreement as did seven other candidates - asked his followers at a rally in Maturín, in the State of Monagas, to have “nerves of steel” and “maximum union and mobilization” before “any circumstance”, so that “peace wins in every street, in every community and in every municipality.”

“I never cease to be impressed in Maturín, the strength that this heroic people of Monagas have, the union, their cohesion, discipline, and desire to win again next July 28,” he added.

The signatories of the document with the National Electoral Council (CNE) pledged to maintain a “climate of respect, peace, and democratic participation” during the elections and the following days in which “the will of the Venezuelan people is not interfered with or disregarded through acts of violence and destabilization that threaten the welfare of the country.”

Márquez branded the agreement as “useless” and “unilateral” since he was not “able to express his opinion and discuss its content” while Gonzalez Urrutia claimed he was not invited to sign it. He also insisted that the recognition of the results was already contemplated in the Barbados Agreement.