President Nicolas Maduro has set a 48-hour deadline for ministers to dismiss some public workers who requested a recall referendum against him….. Hundreds of public workers have already said they were dismissed for signing a petition for a referendum against the unpopular president, according to testimony seen by Reuters, human rights groups and local media, Reuters reports:
The opposition accuses the electoral council of stalling the process for a referendum so that it takes place next year. If that happens and Maduro loses, his Vice President would become president, keeping the Socialist Party in power.
In 2004, during the campaign for a referendum against former president Hugo Chavez, government lawmaker Luis Tascon published a list of more than 2.4 million Venezuelans who signed in favor of a referendum. Many lost jobs and were marginalized from state services and the “Tascon List” became notorious. RTWT
The countries of the region need to tilt the balance to build a region that supports democracy and ostracizes tyranny. The movement is slow but better than none, writes analyst Luis Fleischman. We need more Kuczynskis and Almagros in Latin America. We urge Latin American leaders to take a principled position now and repudiate the Maduros and the Ortegas of the region.
