Venezuela’s opposition calls for protests against a third term for President Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Police were out in force in Venezuela ‘s capital Thursday ahead of what the opposition hoped would be major protests against Friday’s swearing-in of President Nicolás Maduro for a third term following a disputed election.

Protests remained limited as of Thursday morning and the usually busy streets of Caracas were relatively quiet. The scant presence of workers and near-absence of students on sidewalks, subway stations and plazas contrasted with the increasing number of heavily armed state security forces that have been deployed across the country since New Year’s Day.

In the late morning, a handful of opposition demonstrators began walking into the street in one part of the city and others who were on the sidewalk, hesitantly at first, joined them. Together, they began chanting “Freedom! Freedom!”

Empanada vendor Miguel Contreras said he had seen fewer customers than usual Thursday as National Guard soldiers carrying riot shields zoomed by on motorcycles. “Of course, there’s fewer people,” he said. “There’s fear.”

The government has carried out mass arrests and other repressive measures following earlier protests that erupted following the July 28 presidential election.

The ruling party-controlled National Assembly is scheduled to swear in Maduro to another six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost the election. Opposition stalwart Maria Corina Machado has called on supporters to demonstrate across Venezuela to try to force him out of office.

The government has responded to Machado’s call by blocking streets, setting stages with loud music in and around areas where her supporters were expected to gather and deploying pro-government armed groups, known in Venezuela as “colectivos.”

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, stacked with ruling party loyalists, declared Maduro the winner of the election. But unlike in previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts to back the announced result.

The opposition, however, collected tally sheets from more than 80% of electronic voting machines, posted them online and said they showed its candidate, Edmundo González, had won with twice as many votes as Maduro. The U.S.-based Carter Center, invited by Maduro’s government to observe the election, has said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.