South Florida leaders gathered to condemn what they deemed as Nicolas Maduro's attempt to steal the Venezuelan elections and the city of Miami said it was expecting protests in Bayfront Park on Friday.
Activists invited people to gather in Bayfront Park at 10 a.m. Saturday to stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people as they take to the streets at the same time in countrywide protests at the urging of opposition leader María Colina Machado.
City of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo also said the city would support the demonstration with free parking near Bayfront Park.
At another news conference on Friday hosted by Florida democrats, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Venezuelan community leaders issued harsh rebukes of Maduro.
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The news conferences followed the U.S.'s announcement that it recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the true victor.
Venezuelan activist Adelys Ferro said the community welcomes that recognition and the denouncing of the "immense and sadly historic fraud committed by the criminal dictator" Maduro.
The U.S. statement came after calls from multiple governments, including close allies of Maduro, for Venezuela's National Electoral Council to release detailed vote counts, as it has done during previous elections.
The electoral body declared Maduro the winner of the presidential election on Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had evidence to the contrary in the form of more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
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