Venezuela: Church remains defiant

According to Periodista Digital reporting on 20 March 2018, Roman Catholic bishops have accused President Maduro of "setting up a totalitarian, unjust, inefficient and manipulative system", which has led to the uprooting of thousands of families and various forms of corruption and smuggling. Similarly, Agenzia Fides reported on 24 April 2018 that the Catholic Bishops" Conference of Venezuela (CEV) issued a statement requesting the government to postpone the elections‚ due to take place on 20 May 2018 because of the total lack of guarantee that they can carried out in a fair and free fashion. Rossana Ramirez, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The presidential election is just days away and Nicolas Maduro - supported by the new president of Cuba - is campaigning against the influence of US imperialism, after the USA stepped up sanctions against Venezuela (RT News, 9 May 2018). The main opposition group, the Democratic Unity Table, has refused to participate in the presidential elections ever since Maduro threatened - if necessary - to go to war to remain in power. Despite such fighting talk, Christian leaders are standing firm and risk being targeted with violence as a result of their faith-based criticism of Maduro"s increasingly totalitarian regime."