Thousands of people are expected in Downtown Miami on Saturday morning to protest alongside their brothers and sisters in Venezuela.
City Commissioner Joe Carollo announced the event along with Maria Teresa Morin, a close ally and South Florida Coordinator for Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
“They are not even communists, they are just organized criminals that took power, nothing more,” Morin said when talking about the Nicolas Maduro regime that has ruled Venezuela for 11 years.
At Friday’s announcement, Machado delivered a videotaped message urging people to protest.
Morin says Machado called for the Miami rally to happen at the same time as Venezuela’s protests.
“It is very hard for me to see all of my friends disappearing, tortured, or refugees at embassies, it is very hard,” Morin said. “I wish I could be there, but we are fighting from here.”
On the diplomatic front, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says America recognizes Gonzalez as Venezuela’s President-Elect.
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In Washington DC a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a resolution denouncing the Maduro regime’s violent repression of Venezuelans peacefully demonstrating.
The resolution also calls for the imposition of new sanctions on the Maduro regime as well as sanctions targeting individuals and entities involved in subverting democracy.
Both of Florida’s Republican Senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, are sponsoring a resolution recognizing Gonzalez as Venezuela’s President-Elect.
Saturday’s rally in Miami is set for 10AM at the amphitheater at Bayfront Park.
City parking decks will offer free parking.
This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.
