Hundreds of thousands march through Caracas in rival demonstrationsSeptember 2, 2016 - 10:27 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Hundreds of thousands of people have marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in rival demonstrations, BBC reports. Opposition supporters, staging their largest rally for two years, called for President Nicolas Maduro's removal. They blame him for Venezuela's economic crisis and accuse the electoral commission of delaying a referendum that could shorten his stay in power. Maduro, whose supporters also rallied in huge numbers, accused the opposition of trying to stage a coup. The government said the opposition had failed to attract the one million people they were expecting in their march, in what the authorities dubbed the "Takeover of Caracas". "The nation has triumphed. They wanted to intimidate the people but the people are here," said Maduro at a rally in central Caracas. "We have defeated an attempted coup that tried to fill Venezuela and Caracas with violence, death," he said. But opposition leaders said their protest had gathered at least their anticipated one million people. "We have shown to the world the importance of Venezuela and how much it wants change," said opposition politician Jesus Torrealba. Dressed predominantly in white, they chanted "we are going to bring down Maduro". Protesters said they had enough of the policies of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela. A small group of protesters clashed with riot police as the peaceful rally ended. In the run-up to the march, a number of opposition politicians were detained. Last week, Daniel Ceballos of the opposition Popular Will party was returned to prison after having spent a year under house arrest awaiting trial on charges of rebellion. The Interior Ministry said he was planning on escaping from house arrest to carry out acts of violence during Thursday's rally. Mr Ceballos was one of the politicians arrested in 2014 over violent anti-government protests that swept through Venezuela at the time. Forty-three people on both sides of the political divide where killed during those protests. Popular Will party activists Carlos Melo and Yon Goicoechea have also been arrested over the past few days, the first suspected of carrying a "detonator cord" and the latter of carrying explosives. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |