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Setbacks for Venezuela Opposition Drive against President
[An Nahar] Venezuela's opposition has suffered a major blow after authorities halted their drive to recall leftist President Nicolas Maduro and reportedly ordered top opposition leaders not to leave the crisis-torn country.Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate and governor of the state of Miranda, said on Twitter late Thursday that he and seven others had received court orders barring them from travel outside the country. The government was taking the country into a "very dangerous scenario" and an even greater crisis, he warned on Twitter. The opposition had been gearing up for a massive three-day drive next week to collect signatures from millions of voters demanding a recall referendum in the crisis-stricken country. It was supposed to be the last hurdle in a multi-stage process to meet the constitutional requirements for a recall vote. But on Thursday, pro-Maduro governors in four states informed the National Election Council that small-time Mister Big court judges had annulled the results of an earlier petition drive because of alleged fraud. Soon after, the council suspended the recall process, saying it was acting in compliance with the courts. "Let us hope that those responsible will now be sought out and detained and go to prison for the deception they have committed," Maduro's number two Diosdado Cabello said in a speech. Maduro also accused the opposition of "a gigantic fraud," in a speech before leaving on a tour of the Middle East. "Their cheating is coming out," he said. Posted by: Fred 2016-10-22 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=470903 |