Maduro vows to go ahead with referendum despite ‘imperial’ threats

‘Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to go ahead with a vote next week to elect a new national assembly, which would have the power to re-write the constitution, despite opposition pressure and a threat by the US to slap more sanctions on the country.
“This time next week Venezuelans will vote for a Constituent Assembly,” Maduro said in a televised speech on Sunday.
The left-wing president has been under pressure to revoke the decision to hold the July 30 vote. He says, however, that the new assembly, which would be empowered to dissolve government institutions, is a must to bring back peace to the country.
Maduro further described the vote as a chance for Venezuelans to decide “between peace or war, violence or the Constituent Assembly.”’
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