CARACAS — Venezuela's opposition staged nationwide protests against President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday and called for a new wave of demonstrations to revive their stalled effort to topple the deeply unpopular ruling Socialist Party. Protesters waved Venezuela's red, yellow and blue flag in a show of support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, who in January galvanized the opposition by assuming an interim presidency after declaring Maduro's 2018 re-election a fraud. But Saturday's rallies were significantly smaller than those earlier in the year and the participants seemed less optimistic about change - a sign of frustration that Maduro remains in power despite an economic crisis and aggressive U.S. sanctions. "They thought they were going to put the Venezuelan people to sleep, they thought they had instilled fear into our hearts," Guaido told the crowd in eastern Caracas. "Today, Venezuela is claiming victory in the streets."

Source: International New York Times November 16, 2019 13:59 UTC