(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's opposition alliance is planning to hold an unofficial plebiscite on July 16 on President Nicolas Maduro and his call for a constitutional convention as months of violent protests spread into poorer neighborhoods of Caracas.
The vote, to be held without the approval of the National Electoral Council in churches across the country, will ask Venezuelans whether they support the ongoing presidency of Maduro and his call to re-write the constitution, according to two opposition officials with knowledge of the plan who said they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
While the referendum would lack any real enforcement mechanism, it will occur just weeks before a July 30 vote for delegates for a constitutional convention opposed by two-thirds of voters. Critics fear Maduro will use the convention to consolidate power and take the country further toward Cuba-style authoritarianism. With the opposition saying it won't participate in the vote, Venezuela is bracing for an uptick in violence that has left more than 80 dead since March.
“Venezuela is entering a new circle of hell,” Russ Dallen, managing partner at Caracas Capital Markets, said in an emailed report on June 30. “As the hopelessness of this future becomes more obvious to the opposition and a majority of Venezuelans, violence, civil strife, assassinations, and probabilities of coup attempts will exponentially increase.”
The constituent assembly had a high probability of taking place and would most likely move to dissolve the opposition-controlled National Assembly once convened, Dallen said.
The opposition alliance is showing no signs of slowing down protests that have intensified over the past weeks. On Tuesday, supporters are being called to participate in a six-hour shut down of streets across the country.
--With assistance from Nathan Crooks
To contact the reporters on this story: Noris Soto in Caracas at nsoto9@bloomberg.net, Fabiola Zerpa in Caracas Office at fzerpa@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nathan Crooks at ncrooks@bloomberg.net, Philip Sanders
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