The vote was held on Sunday in Venezuela for the creation of the new constituent assembly.
The assembly will be able to dissolve existing institutions in the country and further silence political opposition. Maduro has already affirmed that he plans to remove the Attorney General from her post and affirmed that the new assembly will be able to strip opposition assembly members of any immunity. The AG has been vocal about her unwillingness to recognize the newly created assembly.
Maduro was one of the first to cast his vote, saying that it was a "vote for peace".
In the image below you can see many people supposedly lined up outside of a polling station.
Hundreds of people have lost their lives in the ongoing violence in Venezuela and the majority of the people who have been killed have been protesters or civilians that were attacked by the state.
Over the weekend it's alleged that at least 14 people died as a result of the political unrest, but state supporters have neglected that claim and suggested that there has been no loss of life.
The US just recently declared that they would be slapping Venezuela with new sanctions but Maduro doesn't seem to mind; Maduro has said that he won't be intimidated by the American empire. The new sanctions placed by the US are seeking to prevent Maduro from doing any business with American citizens either in the US or elsewhere.
It's estimated that roughly 8 million people showed up to vote on Sunday.
According to the National Electoral Council, they estimate that there was a turnout of about 41 percent who came out to vote.
Opposition doesn't agree with those estimates and they suggest that the turnout could've been far less than the number that is being claimed by the state. There are even some allegations that citizens were told that they would lose government subsidies or their jobs, if they didn't turn out to vote for the newly created assembly.
It's alleged that the newly created assembly will start to govern within one week.
The Maduro regime doesn't appear at all interested in giving up any power; they only appear to want more. And so it doesn't seem likely that we will witness a peaceful negotiation take place between Maduro and the opposition.
Meanwhile, millions of people in the country feel stuck and like they have no method to seek a solution to the many problems that they are facing. Previous surveys have suggested that something around 80 percent or more of Venezuelans want to see Maduro taken out of power.
As the protests continue, along with the deaths, arrests, inflation, and so on, we are witnessing the international pressure grow as well. However, Maduro hasn't thus far responded positively to any of the criticism coming from the international community.
And this isn't really surprising, considering that he won't even listen to the concerns of the millions of people in Venezuela who have been expressing their discontent for many months now in the streets.
Pics:
EPA via ouest-france.fr/monde/venezuela/venezuela-un-jour-de-vote-meurtrier-la-participation-contestee-5165367
Christian Veron/Reuters via Guardian
AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos via NY Daily News
Dark Knight Rises via tumblr.com/tagged/dark-knight-rises-gif
Reddit
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/07/31/say-goodbye-to-2-30-gas-if-trump-goes-hard-after-venezuela/?utm_term=.c93c190f0331
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-donald-trump-emperor-sanctions-socialist-a7870111.html
http://www.pulse.ng/world/in-venezuela-attorney-general-says-wont-recognize-new-assembly-id7076287.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN1AG0N0
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires/news/business/hits-venezuelan-president-financial-sanctions-article-1.3371400
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/fear-of-violence-hangs-over-venezuela-assembly-election