Venezuelan opposition declares "Zero Hour" for regime change

Venezuela’s opposition declared “Zero Hour” in its putsch against the socialist government on Monday — emboldened by US support.

Leaders of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition gathered for the announcement of their takeover plan a day after their unauthorised referendum seeking a mandate for regime change.

National Assembly vice-president and Popular Will (VP) acting leader Freddy Guevara said the Mud-controlled parliament would announce the results of the plebiscite on Tuesday.

It asked voters to reject President Nicolas Maduro’s calling of a constitutional reform assembly demand the army support the opposition and back a “national unity government.”

But before the announcement of the result Mr Guevara said the national Assembly would form a new government on Tuesday — a move beyond its constitutional powers — along with 1,020 local “Zero Hour committees.”

He called a “national general strike” for Thursday while on Friday the assembly would again exceed its powers by appointing new judges.

The Mud revised its claim for the number of votes cast in its referendum up from 7.1 million to 7.6 million.

But it burnt all records of the vote from its 2,000 unofficial polling stations, preventing any independent audit.

Investigative TV programme La Iguana said it had obtained leaked internal Mud figures showing the true turnout was just 3.6 million, less than half the vote Mr Maduro — or his Mud rival Henrique Capriles — received in 2013.

And an undercover video report circulated on the internet showed one man voting no less than seven times at different polling stations around the capital.

Meanwhile US president Donald Trump threatened further sanctions on Venezuela if the election of 545 National Constituent Assembly members goes ahead on July 30.

“The US will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles,” he said. “If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions.”

Mr Maduro responded expressing his desire “to shake hands and have good relations” with the US and Mr Trump, with whom he sympathised earlier this year over their common enemies in the mainstream media.

“God willing the doors will be opened to a relationship of respect.”

But in a statement on Tuesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said the US threat “shows its absolute bias towards the violent and extremist sectors of Venezuelan politics, which favour the use of terrorism to overthrow a popular and democratic government.”

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