Venezuelans in Houston Protest Election Results: A Community's Cry for Democracy

Houston, TX – Kenya News Updates 

Venezuelan residents in Houston took to the streets to protest upon the announcement that authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro had won Venezuela's recent presidential election. The race has been creased with charges of irregularities, including reports of opposition witnesses being denied access to election headquarters during the vote count.

Venezuelans in Miami 

The Venezuelan presidential election has been a focal point of international scrutiny, with widespread allegations of irregularities and voter suppression. Many Venezuelans abroad, including those in Houston, have expressed disappointment and frustration with what they perceive as an undemocratic process that undermines the will of the people.

Demonstrators in Houston, gathered in the vicinity of the Galleria, held up placards in support of opposition leader El Mundo Gonzalez, whom they say grabbed more than 70 percent of the vote. For many, it was frustrated by an extended rule of Maduro, which began 11 years ago after the death of his mentor, Hugo Chavez.

Indeed, as Political Science Professor Mark Jones of Rice University's Baker Institute says, the move comes amid international complexities; Maduro declared victory within minutes, joined by allies such as China, Russia, and Iran. The move earns pressure from these nations on the efforts of the United States to apply pressure on a regime that has largely remained intransigent to soft American pressure over the years.

This latest development in President Maduro's administration is going to send ripples far and wide in a lot of ways, probably including a further increase in migration from Venezuela to the United States and many Latin American countries. The demonstrators are undeterred, holding flags, chanting for change, and vowing to continue their demonstrations in hopes of raising awareness and support for their cause.

A Houston community, thousands of miles from Venezuela, is raising its voice and speaking out about democratic change and the end of the Maduro regime.