Q24N (EFE) Silence in the streets of Venezuela marks the first day of the questioned third term of Nicolás Maduro – sworn in on Friday amid accusations of electoral fraud – with little traffic and reduced commercial activity, while police and military patrols and controls continue.
In Caracas, some sectors woke up practically empty and others with a timid influx of people who went out to buy food or basic products, in view of the few open establishments, mostly in areas considered essential, as EFE found in a tour of eight areas of the capital.
“Today Saturday I was surprised (by the city),” Nixon Ávila, an engineer who needed to make a delivery, told EFE, but “everything is closed,” something he considered “unusual.”
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“It’s not normal, I imagine it was because of what happened yesterday,” he said, regarding the inauguration of Maduro, to whom the National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by Chavismo, awarded victory in the July elections, according to results that are still unknown in detail, despite its own schedule establishing their publication.
Meanwhile, the deployment of security agents continues, especially in the city center, where the headquarters of public powers and state institutions are located.
Another citizen, who identified himself as Luis González, told EFE that, while “some places do not open yet out of fear,” there is a police presence “everywhere” in Caracas, where he also perceives a “very low” influx.
Esperanza (Hope)
González, a migrant who arrived in Venezuela 46 years ago, lamented that a country “as rich” as the Caribbean “is in so much misery.”
“They say that nothing lasts a lifetime,” said the man, who was expectant about the next announcements from “the opposition leader, the one who won the elections,” without giving a name.
Lorena Figueredo also hopes that the “change” announced on Friday by opposition leader María Corina Machado will materialize, who – she assured – “is close.”
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In that sense, although Figueredo admitted to being “downcast” by the current political crisis, she told EFE that “the last faith” she will “lose” is the one she has in the possibility of a change of government, in the hands of Chavismo since 1999.
While touring a “quite dull” area of Caracas with “few” open shops, she said that she will remain in the Caribbean nation with her children, who “say that they will not leave their Venezuela” because – she assured – “they continue fighting for their country.”
The silence of the city was broken on a street in the east, where a group of Chavista supporters listened to a man playing the guitar and interpreting pieces by the deceased singer Ali Primera, a leading figure of the ruling party.
“Here in Petare everything is (as) always, with the people of the revolution, nothing has happened here, here what is there is the people living what has to be lived (…) Chavez for everyone (…) the people of the street will come later when the party comes,” David told EFE, who identified himself as the head of a UBCH (Hugo Chavez Battle Units).
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As night fell, two concerts organized by the ruling party to «celebrate» Maduro’s inauguration in the east and west of the capital brought together hundreds of people, according to images transmitted by the state channel VTV.
“Splattered” by politics
In Maracaibo, the capital of the state of Zulia (northwest), the panorama was similar: solitude in the streets, few open shops and a strong police presence.
The busy Plaza Baralt, in the center of the city, was “totally paralyzed”, according to a merchant who, like on Friday, when “sales were zero”, expected to close his business before the usual time for the second consecutive day.
“We are splashed by politics, that also has to do with the influx”, said to EFE Rodulfo Gutiérrez, a 68-year-old artisan, resident of the capital of this border region with Colombia, a borderline closed by the Venezuelan authorities until next Monday.
The drop in the circulation of people is also recorded on the coastal strip of the state of La Guaira (north), usually visited and where today there was plenty of space for vehicles to park.
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