If you’ve been following Venezuela’s news closely you will know that things are getting crazier by the day. We are at the brink of a civil war and, at this moment, there is nothing we can do to stop it. The Venezuelan people have been protesting on the streets for more than a HUNDRED days. The death toll surpasses one hundred people, only on July 30th 2017, across the country, were killed by the National Guard’s repression.
After a hundred days of protests we have achieved many goals: Maduro’s government has been exposed as a dictatorship at an international level, the opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez (who had been unfairly imprisoned for more than three years) was released and now he is serving his sentence at his house. Also, on July 16th Venezuelans across the world participated in a Plebiscite, which is a people’s consult, to see who supported the Constituent Assembly the Government is trying to implement. Even if we know the Government is not legitimate anymore and they are not going to follow democratic rules, the opposition is doing everything in its power to fight them by the rules.
After the plebiscite, the country has been maintaining the protests but, also, there has been civic stoppage. In other words, people have not been working and the commerce have been closed. Right now, everyone should leave their fear behind and support the ones that are fighting for our country. I understand not everyone wants to risk their life in the protests, but we need to understand that our lives have always been at risk. We put ourselves at risk whenever we leave our homes and now we can change that. The battle is not equal, the people do not have guns and the military supports the government, but we still need to try. Even from outside the country we can help by sharing information and sending help whenever is necessary.
Furthermore, we feel defeated because the Government implemented the Constituent Assembly by force on July 30th. We do not know the real results, but judging the pictures posted on social media, not a lot of people voted. Still, the Government finally made their final stockade to Venezuela’s democracy. The opposition Governors are no longer in power and the next “elections” are earlier to make it difficult for the opposition to present candidates. Basically, power is centralized and the opposition has been taken out of the picture.
On the other hand, the protests are no longer as massive as before because the opposition leaders do not agree on what to do next. Without a clear leader, the people do not know who to follow so they are taking it into their own hands. It is very difficult to know what is happening and even when you think it cannot get any crazier it does. It is almost impossible to keep up with the news. However, we still need to try to change our “future” because there is no place like home and if we surrender we are not going to have a home to return to.
