MIAMI (WSVN) - Protesters demanding change in Venezuela came together in Little Havana in a dramatic show of support for the residents of the embattled South American country.
Saturday’s rally took place at Domino Park, off Southwest Eighth Street. It unfolded on the same day that Venezulean President Nicolas Maduro denied a humanitarian crisis exists, while blocking much-needed international aid from entering the country.
7News cameras captured dozens of participants at the event. A man had the Venezuelan flag draped around him.
Protester Luis Garcia wore a baseball cap with the colors of the country’s flag.
“No more time for Maduro in Venezuela,” he said.
Attendees called for Maduro’s resignation.
“We want him gone. “He has to leave,” said a man.
“They need the help, so he prefers people dying than they receive the help,” said a woman.
Protester Ana Diaz said her loved ones back in Venezuela are suffering under Maduro’s rule.
“I’m living here like I’m having the time of my life because I have everything, but my family? No,” she said.
Meanwhile, opposition leader and self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido continued efforts to allow aid into the country from Colombia and Brazil.
“[The situation for] all the people is very bad, you know,” said Garcia, “because a lot of people need the medicine, need the food and hospital, and families in all Venezuela — Venezuela is in crisis right now.”
U.S. leaders from both sides of the aisle are standing with him. At a forum on Saturday. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., spoke about the push to remove Maduro and how the U.S. can make it happen.
Wasserman Schultz said she the first step is ensuring the entire military is on the same page, something she described as a bipartisan effort.
“We need to apply pressure from the United States, using our diplomatic tools at our disposal, to make it more likely that the military’s loyalty shifts,” she said, “and once that happens, I think we’ll see Maduro’s departure.”
The rally at Domino Park lasted about three hours and ended around 7 p.m.
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