There was no immediate comment from the government.
Red smoke wafts into the air as it rises next to tear gas fired by the Bolivarian National Police during a protest in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Capriles announced that he has been banned from running for office for 15 years, a move sure to ratchet up tensions amid a growing street protest movement.
There was no immediate response from the Maduro administration on the ban. "The only one who is disqualified here is you, Nicolas Maduro".
The move against Capriles is part of a broader government crackdown this week that included detentions at marches and threats against party leaders.
He said he wanted elections "so as to hand a defeat to those people very soon, so that they will stop the rioting and violence; to respond to them with votes".
Capriles said on Saturday the government is again acting like a dictatorship with an unnecessary show of force against the protesters.
On the streets, protesters said they want to get rid of Maduro.
Video Shows Man Dragged Off United Flight in Chicago
A United spokesperson confirmed in an email Sunday night that a passenger had been taken off a flight in Chicago . The company told United States media that it had asked for volunteers to leave the overbooked plane.
Vowing to fight on, the Miranda state governor joined the rally in the Venezuelan capital. With both seemingly out of the running, the government may be trying to manipulate the electoral playing field to leave the opposition with less viable options should the government bow to pressure and call elections before they're scheduled in 2018, analysts said.
On Wednesday, similar clashes broke out in the western city of San Cristobal, the scene of deadly riots and looting a year ago, and in the city of Valencia.
The 44-year-old Capriles has been the most prominent leader of Venezuela's opposition over the past decade, twice coming close to winning the presidency despite institutional obstacles that tilted races in favor of the government.
This week's protests claimed their first victim Thursday night. A 19-year-old man was shot dead in violence around protests on Thursday, and a police officer hasbeen arrested.Rights group Penal Forum says nearly 100 people have been arrested during protests in the last few days.
"We're exhausted of this dictatorship", said Yoleidy Rodriguez, a 22-year-old university student. But the ombudsman's office said this was not possible.
The opposition is accusing pro-Maduro Supreme Court judges of attempting an internal "coup d'etat" for attempting to take over the opposition-majority legislature's powers last week. That decision was walked back amid fierce domestic and global criticism, but opposition leaders say it revealed the government's authoritarian nature.
The elections council in recent months has required opposition parties to "revalidate" themselves through petition drives in which they must collect a minimum number of signatures or be dissolved. The list also includes two mayors from the Caracas area - Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma - and National Assemblywoman Maria Corina Machado, all of whom were considered potential presidential candidates.
Comments