OAKVILLE, Ont. — Even as Jhonattan Vegas makes his way around the course at the RBC Canadian Open, his thoughts are back home in Venezuela.
Vegas, the reigning Canadian Open champion, shot a 3-under 69 on Friday to stand at 9-under through the first two rounds. But as he spoke to reporters, Vegas talked about the situation in his native land, where opposition leaders in Venezuela have called for nation-wide demonstrations after leftist President Nicholas Maduro dispatched 370,000 troops across the country and has forbidden protests ahead of Sunday's election.
"It's really sad to see what's happening there," Vegas said. "Obviously our government, it's just not doing things right.
"It's really an authoritarian government which they want to do things their way and that's it. As a citizen, it obviously hurts. I still have family there that are suffering trying to find food, medicine. Obviously being here and living in the States, it's something sad to see."
Sunday's election was called by Maduro to create a "constituent national assembly" that would rewrite the constitution at his request. Opposition leaders, fearing the electoral process is stacked against them and Maduro would get sweeping new powers, are trying to block the election.
Vegas is monitoring the situation closely, keeping an eye out in case he needs to help his family leave the country. He says he checks in on them daily.
"Obviously it's really, really tough, what's happening," said Vegas, a 32-year-old native of Maturin. "So I try my best to keep an eye on them and to help them the best way we can, even to get them out of the country for a few weeks if that's necessary.
"It's just really tough. I mean, really, really, really tough."
The Canadian Press
