JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Members of Jacksonville’s Venezuelan community gathered Saturday afternoon at Memorial Park, for a peaceful protest.
This was to show solidarity with people in that country.
In addition to the protests here, there are scheduled protests in other parts of the state and globally.
They’re being done to dispute claims that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro won his July 28 re-election.
News4JAX spoke with people at the protest who said they showed up to be part of the change.
Lena, one of the people protesting said she hopes something like this helps.
“We really hope that this moves and shows people like from the U.N., because right now the U.N. has barely said anything about Venezuela,” Lena said.
Since President Maduro said he won re-election on July 28, hundreds of protesters in the country have been arrested.
There have also been deaths that the United Nations has come out and spoken against.
The U.N. sent a panel of experts to Venezuela and they said the presidential elections lacked “basic transparency and integrity”.
Earlier this month the U.S. State Department recognized Maduro’s opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner.
Lena also said since the election, she has been in contact with her family over there, who have spoken about not feeling safe at all times.
“Since the election, there have been a lot of protest that have escalated in the violent ways,” Lena said.
She is hopeful if the UN speaks up more or if other countries get involved in the problems Venezuela is having, conditions in the country will improve.