Venezuela blocks recall
Venezuelan opposition leaders said yesterday they were banned from leaving Venezuela, adding to outrage over the suspension of their drive for a recall referendum against unpopular socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.
Various opposition figures published a document purportedly from a court in the city of Valencia ordering eight people, including opposition coalition leader Jesus Torrealba and twice-presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, to stay in Venezuela.
"They are wasting their time once again. Wait to hear what we have to say in the next few hours," tweeted Capriles, who has led the campaign for a plebiscite against Maduro.
"It's gratuitous aggression," added Torrealba. "We are the majority, in the street and in congress."
Judicial and government spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The purported court document included eight names and gave no reasons for the ban. But it may be related to government allegations the opposition used fraud in an initial signature drive earlier this year to kick-start the referendum process.
That was the reason Venezuela's electoral authority on Thursday suspended the next phase scheduled for next week - to collect around 4 million signatures to trigger the plebiscite - citing court orders.
Furious opposition supporters accused the government of dictatorial tactics.
Students planned a protest march in Caracas, and the Democratic Unity coalition said it would soon announce measures to keep pressing for Maduro's departure.
Some of the harder-line opposition figures called for civil disobedience. "This dictatorship will not grant us anything, we have to achieve change in peace, democracy and - above all - in the street," jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez's Popular Will party said.
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