The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Alvarez, who went by 'Lou,' was born in Cuba and grew up in Queens, served in the Marines before a two-decade stint with the New York Police Department.Įarlier this month, Alvarez sat alongside former Daily Showhost Jon Stewart and delivered a wrenching testimony to Congress in support of new funding for the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, which is set to run out of money by December 2020. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. MARTIN: That's NPR's South America correspondent Philip Reeves. And it's another step in their attempts to pressure the government and to stop it from going in what they portray as a march towards dictatorship and to try to preserve their democratic rights in that country. And then they will clearly present these to the world as an example that most Venezuelans do not want this new constituent assembly. And they are talking about having the numbers out by as soon as tonight. REEVES: What happens next is that they will count the votes. It's also happening in nearly 80 other countries, including where I am, Brazil, where expatriate Venezuelans are being given the opportunity to take part in this process. And it's not just happening in Venezuela. People are going out to vote in parks, in churches and hundreds of other places where they've set up these symbolic voting booths. But I'm hearing that there is a high turnout.

The opposition printed 14 million ballot papers, but no one expects those all to be filled in. REEVES: I'm hearing from Caracas that it's good. MARTIN: What are you hearing about the turnout? And this has the effect of attempting to undermine the credibility of that constituent assembly and the elections for it and also drawing international attention to the cause in Venezuela of the opposition parties who have been fighting this issue for more than three months now on the streets almost every day with the loss of life and many injuries and hundreds of people winding up in jail.

They believe that the elections are rigged in such a way as to ensure that that body will be a entirely pro-government body. And it comes two weeks ahead of the elections for the constituent assembly. REEVES: Well, it puts a lot of pressure on Maduro. MARTIN: So if it's largely symbolic, what is it meant to accomplish? They're worried it could lead to the end of state governments and to the abolition of the office of the chief prosecutor, who's the strongest opponent of the government of Maduro at this time within the establishment. They're worried that a new constitution might mean the abolition of Parliament, which they control, although the Supreme Court, which is controlled by the government, has rendered Parliament powerless for a very long time now. It'll consolidate his moves to make Venezuela into a dictatorship. The opposition believes that it will be one further step towards a one-party state. And it's about President Nicolas Maduro's plan to establish a constituent assembly, to rewrite the constitution of the country. It's been organized by Venezuela's opposition parties.

Illegal and irrelevant is the word they're using. And indeed, the government is describing it as that. REEVES: No, it doesn't have any legal force. MARTIN: So what is this referendum for, and does it have any actual legal force, any binding impact?

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