Venezuelan Montrealers express fear, pride amid home country election dispute
CBC
Soraya Benitez says she has not heard from two of her friends who were arrested after they took part in demonstrations in Venezuela since Wednesday.
The Montrealer, whose nephews are also protesting in her home country, has been worried about her friends' safety.
"The police in Venezuela come to people's homes or in the street, pick them up and they disappear," said Benitez, president of the Canada Venezuela Democracy Forum — an advocacy group.
Venezuelans took to the streets on July 29, demanding that President Nicolás Maduro acknowledge that he lost Sunday's election to an opposition that is claiming a landslide victory.
The opposition told reporters they have obtained more than 70 per cent of the tally sheets from the election.
Benitez said she was not surprised when she heard that Maduro had declared victory, adding that his "elections have always been rigged." Maduro has been in power since 2013.
But this time, the Venezuelan-born Montrealer says things are different.
"We are right, and we have proof that we are right," said Benitez.
Just like Benitez, Maria Liliana Madriz is watching the images from her native country with anxiety and hope.
She says she has lost sleep over the political unrest in her home country.
"We're with our cells day and night, checking everything that comes, the second it comes and sharing it with all of our groups," she said.
Madriz came to Montreal in 1998, the year Hugo Chávez was elected in Venezuela, fearing for her and her daughter's safety.
Seeing the protests and pressure from the international community, she says she hopes this will be the start of negotiations.
"We are with them. We want to be with them," Madriz said, whose brother is participating in several Venezuelan demonstrations.
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