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Venezuela’s opposition just took one step closer to ousting President Maduro

Venezuelans are lining up this week to validate their support for a referendum on whether President Nicolás Maduro should stay in office in the face of a massive economic crisis and amid growing social unrest.
Imagen por Ariana Cubillos/AP Images

Venezuela's opposition appears significantly closer to forcing a recall referendum on President Nicolás Maduro, thanks to the long lines of sympathizers lining up this week to validate their support of the process.

"We are going to complete the validation process and we are going to get a referendum this year," opposition leader and former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles told reporters. "My respects go out to all the people who have been lining up since early in the morning."

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The opposition's effort to force a vote to remove President Maduro from power began two months ago when it collected 1.3 million signatures in favour of the idea.

This week the electoral authorities have called on the signatories to verify their support with their identification and fingerprints.

Capriles said that 71,500 signatures were validated on Monday alone, more than a third of the 195,000 required by Venezuelan law to get a stage closer to forcing the referendum.

The next stage would require the opposition to go out collecting signatures again, although this time it would need 4 million in order to make a recall vote unavoidable.

On Tuesday Capriles reiterated calls on supporters to ensure that this happens. "No one leaves the line," he tweeted. "Steady, they will have to respect the law." In another tweet he posted a picture of a fingerprint with the colors of the Venezuelan flag.

The opposition is not only desperate to force a referendum, but to force it quickly.

This is because if Maduro lost a vote this year, the electoral authorities would have to call a new presidential election. If he lost a referendum after January, he would be replaced by his vice president, effectively leaving the Socialist Party in power.

The pressure for a vote to kick out Maduro comes in the middle of a severe economic crisis that includes acute food and electricity shortages, the highest inflation in the world, and babies dying for lack of basic medical care.

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Related: Venezuela in Crisis: Families Are Fed Up With Going Hungry

The 53-year-old president and former bus driver also faces social unrest and regular food riots and looting in which several people have been killed by police unable to contain the protests in a peaceful way.

"This is necessary because the political situation of the country is unsustainable, what we're living is horrible," said José Gómez, 45, a merchant, as he stood in a line in Caracas. "I feel terrible seeing neighbours selling television sets or belongings to be able to give food to their children."

Maduro has repeatedly blamed all the country's problems on a conspiracy against Venezuela's brand of socialism hatched by the local business elite and political opposition together with the United States.

Watch: Blackout: Venezuela's Activist Journalists

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