Two-day strike begins before vote Sunday in Venezuela

By Nancy Caouette

MEXICO CITY

Barricades made of garbage bags, tree trucks and yellow tape blocked traffic Wednesday on the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, as a 48-hour nationwide strike by the opposition began.

Businesses closed for the strike that aims to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and force the cancelation of controversial vote Sunday on a Constituent Assembly that would have authority to rewrite the Constitution.

Opposition leader and former political prisoner, Leopoldo Lopez, who was released July 8 but remains under house arrest, urged Venezuelans to occupy the streets “until we reach our freedom.

‘’Today, in Venezuela, we are facing a very clear threat that seeks two things: the annihilation of the republic and the democratic state and the absolute submission of the Venezuelan people,” he said in a video posted on social media. He added that the government would not achieve its goals because of “the strength and the conviction” of Venezuelans.

Thirteen regional governments, including the U.S., have urged Maduro to abandon the July 30 vote. The European Union has also joined the chorus of voices demanding the vote be canceled.

U.S. President Donald Trump followed through Wednesday with the threat of economic sanctions against Venezuela for proceeding with the vote when Washington slapped sanctions on 13 current and former Venezuelan officials.

A senior U.S. official speaking said anyone who joins the assembly should expect to be targeted by U.S. sanctions

Visits to Venezuela by the presidents of Colombia and Bolivia this month fueled speculation Havana would be asked to mediate the economic and social crises at the requests by those governments but Cuba dismissed those rumors Wednesday when it said it would not intervene.

‘’Those who try to give lessons of democracy and human rights from outside must take their hands out of that nation, it is only up to Venezuela and its people, without intrusion, in charge of giving a solution to their internal problems,” Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Machado said in a speech Havana.

At least 100 people have died during the protests against Maduro's government in the last four months.