This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thousands of Venezuelans living in Utah voted in a referendum Sunday, joining millions of their countrymen in rejecting President Nicolas Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution and eliminate the country's congress.
The National Assembly, Venezuela's congress, asked on the ballots whether voters support the constitution and do not want to rewrite it (as Maduro plans to do), whether they want national security forces to protect the people and congressional politicians elected by the people and whether they supported keeping the National Assembly in place, rather than dissolving it (which Maduro plans to do).
In Utah, 3,175 Venezuelans cast votes, according to Antonio Ortega, a coordinator for the vote and an activist with the Voluntad Popular movement. Of those votes, 3,169 participants answered yes, one answered no, and five ballots were void due to voters either leaving answer slots blank or failing to sign the ballot.
Maduro has previously announced a plan to change the national constitution and take power from the congressional branch, which would make his executive position stronger.
Ortega, who views Maduro as a dictator, says the president has not consulted his own people on what they want, but the fact that more than 7.1 million Venezuelans participated in the vote shows that they care about the fate of their homeland. Ortega said 600,000 of those came from Venzuelans in more than 80 countries worldwide, many of whom have fled their country after being targeted and persecuted.
Ortega said he used to be a politician in Venezuela working with Leopoldo Lopez, who was imprisoned for nearly 3½ years and reassigned to house arrest July 8. Ortega said he was persecuted by people who supported Maduro and that he fled with his family after someone set his house on fire in the middle of the night.
He found asylum in the U.S. and has lived in Utah for two years, but he and others who have left would return home to rebuild if conditions there improved.
But the next step is up to the president, who will decide "whether he is going to listen to the will of the people" or proceed with a plan on July 30 for an election of an assembly to remake the country's political system, Ortega said.
Ortega hopes Sunday's vote will also gain attention from international human rights organizations.
The opposition only released turnout numbers, not tallies of responses, although virtually all who voted were believed to have answered "yes" to the central rejection of the constitutional rewrite.
Ortega also believes the vote is "sending a message to national armed forces" to "start protecting the people on the street and stop protecting" Maduro's regime.
In addition to rebuilding, Ortega said refugees who return home could also build a stronger relationship between Venezuela and places where they've found asylum, like Utah.
In a statement released from the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said the vote showed that the Venezuelan people "stand for democracy, freedom, and rule of law. Yet their strong and courageous actions continue to be ignored by a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator."
"The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles," he continued. "If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions."
Trump called for "free and fair elections" and said his nation "stands with the people of Venezuela in their quest to restore their country to a full and prosperous democracy."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the Trump administration condemned the "violence inflicted by government thugs against innocent voters and efforts by the government to erode democracy in Venezuela."
Opponents of Venezuela's government blame it for turning one of the region's most prosperous countries into an economic basket case with a shrinking economy, soaring inflation and widespread shortages. The government blames the crisis on an economic war waged by its opponents and outside backers.
Twitter: @mnoblenews
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.