Venezuela's opposition brought hundreds of thousands of people from around the country onto the streets of this capital Thursday to demand the scheduling of a referendum on recalling President Nicolas Maduro, while supporters of the leftist government staged a counter rally.
Popular Will, the party of jailed opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, said that more than a million people took part in the "Takeover of Caracas."
But the MUD opposition alliance, which organized the mobilization, declined to estimate the size of the turnout.
MUD supporters, many dressed in white, marched down the main thoroughfares of Caracas behind opposition leaders that included National Assembly speaker Henry Ramos Allup, two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and Leopoldo Lopez's wife, Lilian Tintori.
The protest ended with the reading of a manifesto announcing plans for additional demonstrations to demand an expedited plebiscite on removing Maduro.
The MUD leadership also called for a nationwide "cacerolazo" - banging of pots and pans - at 8 p.m. Thursday to celebrate the success of the Takeover of Caracas.
Thousands of partisans of the governing PSUV gathered in central Caracas in a show of support for Maduro and in "defense of peace," as administration officials accused the MUD of plotting acts of violence.
"Today we have defeated a coup attempt that tried to fill Venezuela and Caracas with violence, with death," Maduro told supporters.
He said the security forces this week captured 92 Colombian paramilitaries at an encampment north of Caracas, not far from Miraflores, the presidential palace.
The MUD's Ramos Allup "knew about all those plans," Maduro said, accusing the congressional speaker of "fascistic" hate speech aimed at promoting violence.
Maduro's predecessor and political mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, was removed from office for 48 hours in April 2002 during an abortive coup that began during mass opposition protests in Caracas.
Source: EFE
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