NO THEY DON'T
Rebecca Hanson, University of Florida and Verónica Zubillaga, Simón Bolívar University
Wed, July 31, 2024
THE CONVERSATION
Demonstrators protest against Nicolás Maduro's government in Caracas on July 29, 2024. Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images
Post-election protests are far from uncommon in Venezuela. In 2018, people took to the streets to contest President Nicolás Maduro’s reelection; they did so again in 2019 when the Venezuelan opposition proclaimed National Assembly representative Juan Guaidó as interim president in defiance of a vote they said was rigged.
It isn’t surprising, then, that there have been widespread demonstrations in the country after Maduro claimed victory again, this time over challenger Edmundo González in the disputed election held July 28, 2024.
Many in the country had viewed the vote as a chance to avoid six more years of “Chavismo” – a political project Maduro inherited from former president and left-wing populist Hugo Chávez. Since 2013, Maduro has led the country while it has faced a severe economic crisis, resulting from a combination of falling oil prices, corruption and mismanagement, and international sanctions. The crisis has resulted in massive inflation and food shortages, with the majority of the population facing the choice of living in poverty or leaving the country.
But the current protests – sparked by the disputed election results but fomented by years of economic crisis – look different. From our analysis of news reports, social media and the protests themselves, it appears they involve a wider segment of society than in the past, and include many poor and working-class Venezuelans – the very groups from which Chavismo has traditionally drawn support.
The big question now is whether this more diverse base of protesters will have any impact, or, as has happened in the past, Maduro will be able to ride out the post-election unrest by using suppressive tactics.
Disputed result
The nature of Maduro’s claimed victory meant that protests were always likely.
The fairness of the elections had been called into question for months leading up to the actual vote due to government interference, such as the disqualification of Maria Corina Machado – the opposition’s de facto leader – and the arrest of campaign workers and activists.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. Alfredo Lasry R/Getty Images
While in the past the opposition has been quick to call for a boycott of the polls, Machado and her replacement candidate, González, remained committed to the electoral path this time.
Venezuela’s Electoral Council released the results shortly after midnight on July 29, indicating that Maduro won with 51.2% of the vote, while González received 44.2%. This contrasted with exit polls and documentation the opposition had collected from around 40% of voting centers that seemed to show González winning with 70% of the vote.
The opposition immediately called the results into question, claiming that they had not been verified. International observers likewise cast doubt on the result’s validity.
The Carter Center, which has provided international observation of elections in Venezuela for years, released a statement saying the presidential election could not be considered democratic, adding that the vote “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages and violated numerous provisions of its own national laws.”
The statement continued that the election had taken place in “an environment of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society organizations and the media” and that there had been “a clear bias in favor of the incumbent.”
Actions taken by Maduro’s government have further fueled speculations. According to the opposition, on the night of the election, documents used by citizen observers to verify results were not handed over in most voting centers. According to Venezuelan journalist Eugenio Martínez, paper counts were handed over in only half of the country’s 30,026 voting centers.
The government has yet to publish voting tallies that could be used to verify or debunk either side’s claim to victory. Leaders from across the region, including Chilean President Gabriel Boric, the Biden administration and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have since called on Maduro to release the full results.
Pots-and-pans protest
Protests against this lack of transparency began the day after the election and have continued. While such mobilization against the government has become a feature of Chavista Venezuela, the current protests are notable for the range of people coming out onto the streets.
Middle- and upper-class Venezuelans have often turned out en masse hoping to remove Maduro from office, sometimes encouraged by radical opposition voices urging undemocratic means to do so. Such opposition has been fueled by a multiplicity of factors, including the government’s clear turn toward authoritarianism and maneuvers to stay in power that have eroded democratic institutions.
But this round of protests has been characterized by mass participation from low-income and working-class people, too. While protests involving Venezuelans did break out across poorer neighborhoods in 2019, they were smaller and less sustained than the ones seen in recent days.
Videos of residents in low-income areas like Petare, Catia, Valles del Tuy and other historical strongholds of Chavismo have been shared across social media, with residents banging pots, burning tires and marching in the streets.
“Cacerolazos” – a traditional protest practice that involves banging pots and pans together – have even been heard throughout the former Chavista bastion that houses the Cuartel de la Montaña, where the mausoleum of Chávez – who died in office in 2013 – is located.
Elsewhere, statues of Chávez and posters of Maduro have been torn down and pummeled amid the outrage over what is perceived as blatant manipulation that crossed a threshold.
“They went too far” is a refrain that has been heard among protesters since the election.
While media outlets have pointed to protests in the barrios – the term used for urban, low-income neighborhoods in Venezuela – that range from spontaneous to slightly more organized, the government has written off the demonstrations as coordinated events staged by the “fascist right” and funded by the United States.
Offering an alternative
Maduro’s refusal to recognize that people who used to back him are now protesting against him reveals the vast distance that has opened between Venezuela’s Chavista government and its traditional base.
To be sure, protests in low-income neighborhoods should not be conflated with committed support for the opposition. Indeed, for years we’ve observed that people in Venezuela’s barrios distrust and are disillusioned with both the government and the opposition.
But these protests suggest that disgust with the current political system and outrage over suspected electoral fraud are now driving that discontent.
The protests are a response to years of crisis, corruption, fiscal irresponsibility and shortages, all of which have led to families being torn apart. An estimated 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country to escape these problems. The issues affect everyone in Venezuela, but are particularly devastating for low-income people.
At the same time, many Venezuelans have felt more hopeful due to Machado’s rising popularity. After spending significant time campaigning in rural and working-class communities, she and González seemed to offer an alternative to the current situation.
Maduro’s response
The question now is whether this change in the protesters’ demographics will make a difference.
The Maduro government has signaled that it will remain inflexible in the face of widespread demonstrations, taking whatever actions necessary to stay in power. Still, while unlikely, protests in low-income neighborhoods could convince certain factions within the government that Chavismo has lost the support of the people it claims to represent.
Pressure from within the government, combined with objections from regional leaders, could perhaps influence the political calculations of Maduro.
But past experience points to a different response. After waves of protests in 2017 and 2019, Maduro turned to extreme repression by state security forces and nonstate armed groups – known as “colectivos” – whose members are loyal to the government and have much to lose if there is a regime change. Increasingly, the government has unleashed massive lethal violence in low-income neighborhoods when it has felt threatened. Much of this repression, consisting of police and military raids, has been framed as crime-fighting. But as our research has shown, it is also aimed at tamping down social unrest.
Maduro’s response will likely involve violence against traditional opposition groups that have long mobilized against the government. But we believe poorer Venezuelans, turning out to protest in numbers not seen before, will suffer the most.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Rebecca Hanson, University of Florida and Verónica Zubillaga, Simón Bolívar University
Fresh protests in Venezuela as anger grows at disputed election result
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has urged peaceful demonstrations. [Reuters]
In another development on Tuesday, Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Arnoldo André said it was prepared to give political asylum or refuge status to Ms Machado and Mr González.
Ms Machado responded expressing gratitude, but said her priority was to protect "fellow asylum seekers" at the Argentine Embassy in north-eastern Caracas.
"My responsibility is to continue this fight alongside the people," she wrote on social media.
It comes after the head of congress Jorge Rodríguez said on state television that the opposition pair should be arrested.
President Maduro also warned “justice must come” to the opposition leader and candidate and said he held them “directly responsible for the criminal violence".
Protest erupted after the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE) - who is a member of Mr Maduro's party and used to work as his legal adviser - declared the president re-elected for a third consecutive term.
The CNE had earlier announced that Mr Maduro had won with 51% of the votes, ahead of Edmundo González with 44%.
However, the electoral authority has so far failed to publish detailed voting tallies, which the opposition says show that the result the CNE announced was fraudulent.
The regional body for the Americas, the Organization of American States (OAS), has accused Venezuela's government of completely distorting the results.
The opposition coalition backing Mr González said they had been able to review 73.2% of the voting tallies and maintained that they confirmed that Mr González was the winner by a wide margin.
"We have the records showing our categorical and mathematically irreversible victory," Mr González said.
Key moments which led to Venezuela protests
However on Monday the CNE doubled down, announcing that all votes had been counted and Mr Maduro was the winner.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Tarek Saab, a longtime ally of Mr Maduro, warned that those arrested would be charged with "resisting authority and, in the most serious cases, terrorism".
The opposition Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party said among those who had been detained was their national political co-ordinator, Freddy Superlano.
The party warned that the government was stepping up its repression of activists who have been demanding the publication of results from polling stations.
Julio Derbis from Petare, one of the slums on the outskirts of the city, said: “We are going to fight, we hope with the pressure from the streets, we will overturn what the president is pretending, which is him sticking to power.
"The police are our neighbours, we live side by side, and they need to understand that they need to unite in the fight for all of our common good.”
Another protester, Karina Pinto, said these protests felt different to previous rounds of anti-government demonstrations.
“We have to get on the streets, it is the only way. We don’t support violence, but they are violent. We have to respond," she said.
“The security forces need to get on our side, they are Venezuelans too. They can’t be against us, we are the people."
Supporters of Maduro also took to the streets and insist he won fairly [Reuters]
In another section of the city, groups of President Maduro’s supporters also gathered to show their backing for him.
Nancy Ramones, one supporter of the president, said: “I’m not protesting anything, I’m supporting my government, the one who won. Nicolás Maduro. And I’m supporting him because he is the man that represents peace.”
“What the opposition say, they have not proved. If they say there is fraud, they have to prove it. And fraud hasn’t happened. They always have a hidden agenda.
“This is a coup that we are not going to allow, we are patriots. We are Venezuelans, we love peace.”
Milagros Arocha said: “Here the one who really won was Nicolás Maduro, here are the people, representing Nicolás Maduro. We want peace.”
Opposition parties had united behind Mr González in an attempt to unseat President Maduro after 11 years in power, amid widespread discontent.
Almost 7.8m people have fled the economic and political crisis which has rocked the country under the Maduro Administration.
The United Nations' human rights chief has said he is deeply concerned about the increasing tension and violence in Venezuela. Volker Türk called on the authorities to respect the rights of all Venezuelans to assemble and protest peacefully.
Key moments which led to Venezuela protests
Choreographed celebrations in Venezuela as Maduro claims win
Venezuela's Maduro asks top court to audit the presidential election, but observers cry foul
REGINA GARCIA CANO and GISELA SALOMON
Updated Wed, July 31, 2024 at 5:59 PM MDT·6 min read
51
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday asked Venezuela’s high court to conduct an audit of the presidential election after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory, drawing criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.
Maduro told reporters that the ruling party is also ready to show all the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election.
“I throw myself before justice,” he said outside the Supreme Tribunal of Justice headquarters in the capital, Caracas, adding that he is “willing to be summoned, questioned, investigated.”
This is Maduro's first concession to demands for more transparency about the election. However, the court is closely aligned with his government; the court's justices are proposed by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers.
The Carter Center, which sent a delegation to Venezuela to monitor the election, criticized Maduro's audit request, saying the court would not provide an independent review.
“You have another government institution, which is appointed by the government, to verify the government numbers for the election results, which are in question,” said Jennie K. Lincoln, who led the delegation. “This is not an independent assessment.”
The Atlanta-based group said Tuesday night that it was unable to verify the announced results and criticized what it called a “complete lack of transparency” in declaring Maduro the winner. Venezuela’s electoral authorities allowed the Carter Center to send 17 observers.
Maduro's main challenger, Edmundo González, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado say they obtained more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed. They said the release of the data on those tallies would prove Maduro lost.
Maduro insisted to reporters that there had been a plot against his government and that the electoral system was hacked. Asked later on during a news conference why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council has come under attack, including cyber-attacks.
“Engineers are fighting right now” to solve those attacks, he said without elaborating.
The government presented some videos that the president said showed people attacking and torching some electoral offices. The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify the images.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said more than 1,000 people related to some of those attacks have been arrested.
Pressure has been building on the president since the election. The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to his United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has yet to release any results broken down by voting machine, which it did in past elections.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a close Maduro ally, joined other foreign leaders Wednesday in urging him to release detailed vote counts.
“The serious doubts that have arisen around the Venezuelan electoral process can lead its people to a deep violent polarization with serious consequences of permanent division,” Petro said on the social platform X.
“I invite the Venezuelan government to allow the elections to end in peace, allowing a transparent vote count, with the counting of votes, and with the supervision of all the political forces of its country and professional international supervision,” he added.
Petro proposed that Maduro’s government and the opposition reach an agreement “that allows for the maximum respect of the (political) force that has lost the elections.” The agreement, he said, could be submitted to the United Nations Security Council.
His comments came a day after another ally, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, along with U.S. President Joe Biden, called for the “immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level.”
Brazil’s presidential office refused to comment Wednesday on whether an audit by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice would amount to an independent verification. Instead, it pointed to a Monday statement from the Ministry for Foreign Relations saying the government awaits “the publication by the National Electoral Council of data broken down by polling station, an indispensable step for the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the election result.”
Lula said of Maduro on Tuesday that “the more transparency there is, the greater his chance of having peace to govern Venezuela.”
The Organization of American States convened for an extraordinary session Wednesday, but members were unable to reach a consensus on a resolution to pressure Venezuelan authorities to “immediately” publish the granular results and verify them in the presence of international observers. Seventeen nations voted in favor of the resolution, one short of the threshold required for passage. Eleven abstained, and five were absent.
According to Machado, the opposition leader, the vote tallies show González received roughly 6.2 million votes compared with 2.7 million for Maduro. That is widely different from the electoral council's report that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, against more than 4.4 million for González.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into free fall after Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history. Many have settled in Colombia.
Speaking to reporters in Vietnam on Wednesday, the European Union's foreign affairs chief said the bloc won't recognize Maduro’s claim of electoral victory without independent verification of voting records.
“They should have been provided immediately, as in any democratic electoral process,” Josep Borrell said.
Within hours of the electoral council saying Maduro had won, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Caracas and other cities. The protests, which continued into Tuesday, turned violent at times, and law enforcement responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.
The Venezuela-based human rights organization Foro Penal said 11 people, including two minors, were killed in election-related unrest.
Maduro’s closest ruling party allies quickly came to his defense. National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez — his chief negotiator in dialogues with the U.S. and the opposition — insisted Maduro was the indisputable winner and called his opponents violent fascists. He called for Machado and González to be arrested.
Machado and González urged their supporters to remain calm.
“I ask Venezuelans to continue in peace, demanding that the result be respected and the tally sheets be published,” González said on X. “This victory, which belongs to all of us, will unite us and reconcile us as a nation.”
___
Salomon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Ella Joyner in Brussels and Eleonore Hughes in Rio de Janeiro contributed.
Isabella says she has not heard from her son since he was arrested [Paulo Koba / BBC]
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called for protests “in every city” in Venezuela on Saturday against President Maduro and the disputed election result.
She said on social media “we must remain firm, organised and mobilised with the pride of having achieved a historic victory on 28 July".
The government has said Ms Machado should be arrested.
It comes after Ms Machado wrote in the Wall Street Journal she is in “hiding” and fearing for her “life” and “freedom.”
So far, the Venezuelan government says more than 1,000 people have been arrested in protests set off by the disputed election.
Isabella has very little information about her son. She has been waiting anxiously outside the police station where she believes he is, hoping for answers.
She says on Monday the National Guard “unjustly grabbed” her son and others at the march:
“They were not harming anyone. They did not have stones. They did not have weapons. They only protested.
"They beat him. They accused them of being terrorists for defending their country, for wanting change,” she says.
“We went out to march because we want a change, because we can no longer stand this government. There is so much misery, so much hunger, so much crime, so much injustice towards innocent people, many people dying in hospitals.”
She shows us a photograph of her granddaughter who she says died in December last year because there was no oxygen for treatment in the hospital where she was.
“There were 12 children who died because there was no oxygen,” she says.
“I want Venezuela to be the same as before, where we work with dignity. Where we earned a decent salary. Where our children and grandchildren could study. My daughter and son left university because there are no teachers.
“The government does not want kids to study, it wants us to continue in misery, to be ignorant, to not speak out. How is it possible that you go to a hospital and you have to buy everything? There is no oxygen. There is nothing.”
She said her son was accused of “terrorism” which can carry a sentence of years in prison, but she says the government has no evidence.
The disputed vote sparked anti-government protests across Venezuela [Reuters]
Alberto Romero, a lawyer with the human rights group Foro Penal, said there were about 200 people detained just in the police station where Isabella has been waiting, including children.
“There are 11 minors here,” he said.
“It’s totally illegal. This is not actually a prison, it’s just a police station. It’s not possible for lawyers to get in. No one has had the opportunity to see these people that are being detained, we don’t know the conditions."
The judiciary in Venezuela is controlled by the government.
“The people detained are not allowed private defenders. Public defenders are part of the state. So the one who accused you, is the one who defends you,” he added.
He said that many of the families who he is representing had relatives detained for just “walking in the street” on the day of protests, adding the purpose was “intimidation” of the Venezuelan people.
Foro Penal have verified and identified 711 people who have been detained and 11 people who have died since 29 August when protests began.
Maduro manoeuvring to stay in power in Venezuela
Key moments which led to Venezuela protests
Nicolás Maduro: The leader who promised to win 'by hook or by crook'
Venezuela's attorney general has said there have been more than 1,000 detentions.
An opposition politician, Freddy Superlano, who has been a fierce critic of President Maduro has also been detained. A video shared on social media showed six men putting him in a van and taking him away.
His family have demanded proof that he is still alive and do not know his whereabouts.
On Wednesday, President Maduro asked the Supreme Court to act against protesters – paving the way for further arrests.
President Maduro has described anti-government protesters as "criminals" [EPA]
His government has also accused the opposition leader, Ms Machado, and its presidential candidate, Edmundo González, of inciting violence by disputing the election result and has said they should be arrested.
President Maduro called the opposition leaders a “perverse and macabre duo who have to take responsibility” for protesters he described as “criminals.”
He has strongly denied electoral fraud and has accused the opposition of instigating a “coup”.
But, in an intervention, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington rejected Mr Maduro’s "unsubstantiated allegations" against opposition leaders.
In a statement Mr Blinken said threats to arrest Ms Machado and Mr González "are an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power".
"All Venezuelans arrested while peacefully exercising their right to participate in the electoral process or demand transparency in the tabulation and announcement of results should be released immediately," Mr Blinken added.
"Law enforcement and security forces should not become an instrument of political violence used against citizens exercising their democratic rights."
Despite the spectre of detentions growing, many Venezuelans are determined to continue protesting – although some are deterred by fear.
Isabella, in spite of what happened to her son, described the protests as “incredible”.
“Everyone now has internet, WiFi, Instagram, TikTok. Everyone passed a statement through the neighbourhoods saying ‘Let’s March. Let’s join for a better Venezuela'.”
She explained how the slum neighbourhood of Petare, which used to be a stronghold for the president “began to descend” from the mountains to the city.
“They started to go down, shouting, with pots, pans, and flags. Barefoot children, mothers carrying children to the march.
"The colectivo [armed paramilitaries who support Mr Maduro] yelled at us, cursed us, threw stones at us, told us ‘Viva Maduro!’ The authorities started throwing tear gas at us.
"We don’t know how this is going to end. We don’t want dead people.”
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Venezuela tensions rise as OAS chief demands ICC warrant for Maduro
DPA
Thu, August 1, 2024
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at a press conference in the Miraflores presidential palace three days after his controversial re-election. Jeampier Arguinzones/dpa
The power struggle following the disputed presidential election in Venezuela has become more heated.
Authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro said that opposition leader María Corina Machado and her presidential candidate, Edmundo González, belong in prison.
"As a citizen, I say: These people should be behind bars," Maduro told journalists in Caracas on Wednesday.
The opposition maintains that it won Sunday's election, in which Maduro was declared the winner despite allegations of fraud. The US is demanding that the electoral authorities make the lists of the votes cast public.
Maduro has promised to audit the results of the election. But the country's Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which could ultimately have the final say, is seen as deeply loyal to his government.
Maduro labelled Machado and González criminals and cowards, and tried to pin the blame for the violent protests that followed the election on the opposition.
According to non-governmental organizations in Venezuela, at least 11 people died in the riots. Human Rights Watch sid it had received reports that as many as 20 people had died so far. According to the Attorney General's Office, more than 1,000 people have been arrested.
The opposition blames the government for the protests. "After the clear electoral victory that we Venezuelans have won, the regime's response is murder, kidnapping and persecution. These crimes will not go unpunished," Machado wrote on Platform X.
Meanwhile the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) wants the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Maduro.
"It is time for justice," Luis Almagro said on Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the organization in Washington.
Before the election, Maduro had warned of bloodshed and civil war in the South American country if he was not re-elected for a third term.
Almagro claimed that Maduro was now carrying out that "bloodbath."
"It is time to press charges and request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against the main perpetrators, including Maduro," Almagro wrote on Platform X.
"We will request this indictment with an arrest warrant," he said at the Washington meeting.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been investigating Maduro's government for alleged crimes against humanity in the country. The government in Caracas rejects the accusations.
The emergency meeting of the OAS saw the organization's Permanent Council unable to reach a common position on the situation in Venezuela.
A resolution calling for the publication of detailed election results and a guarantee of freedom of assembly failed to gain majority support. Seventeen member states voted in favour of the draft, 11 abstained and five other countries did not send a representative to the meeting.
Maduro's government unilaterally withdrew from the OAS several years ago, and accused it of being in the service of "imperialism."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a small copy of the constitution at a press conference in the Miraflores presidential palace three days after his controversial re-election. Jeampier Arguinzones/dpa
Venezuelans rally to support opposition after disputed vote
Barbara Agelvis and Javier Tovar
Wed, July 31, 2024
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was blocked from standing in the presidential election, so ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia ran in her place (Yuri CORTEZ
Thousands of Venezuelans gathered Tuesday in a peaceful show of opposition support a day after 12 people died and hundreds were arrested during protests against President Nicolas Maduro's disputed presidential election victory.
They chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and "We are not afraid!" at a mass rally in the capital Caracas, where opposition leaders insisted they had the numbers for a convincing victory.
International calls mounted for the Maduro-aligned National Electoral Council (CNE) to release a detailed vote breakdown to back its awarding of Sunday's election to him.
Maduro said the opposition would be held responsible for "criminal violence... the wounded, the dead, the destruction" associated with protests.
The Foro Penal human rights NGO said at least 11 people -- two of them minors -- had died in what its head Alfredo Romero described as "a crisis of human rights."
Dozens more were injured, and at least 177 arrested, he said, while authorities reported more than 700 arrests.
The military has reported one death and 23 injuries among its ranks.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday at protesters who claimed the election was stolen and flooded the streets with chants of "this government is going to fall!"
The opposition rejects the authorities' assertion that Maduro won with 51 percent of votes compared to 44 percent for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Maduro, 61, has led the oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80 percent that pushed more than seven million of once-wealthy Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate.
He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.
- 'Cannot be recognised' -
The US-based Carter Center, whose monitors observed the poll, also called for the release of detailed polling station results.
"Venezuela's 2024 presidential election did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the vote results cannot be recognised until voting records are verified and made public.
"We ask to be provided with immediate access to the voting records of polling stations," he told reporters during a trip to Vietnam on Wednesday.
Independent polls had predicted retired diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, would win by a wide margin.
Thousands of protesters streamed into the streets of several cities when Maduro was declared the winner, some ripping down and burning his campaign posters in anger.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said 749 "criminals" had been arrested at protests and faced charges of resisting authority or, "in the most serious cases, terrorism."
Maduro's close aide and Venezuela's National Assembly president, Jorge Rodriguez, said Gonzalez Urrutia and Maria Corina Machado -- the popular opposition leader blocked from the ballot by Maduro-aligned courts -- should be locked up over the protests.
- 'Maduro dictator' -
Opposition supporters gathered for peaceful rallies in several cities on Tuesday.
Thousands waved Venezuelan flags and chanted "Maduro dictator!" and "Edmundo president!" at the Caracas rally with Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado.
"We have to stay in the streets, we cannot allow them to steal our vote so brazenly," said Carley Patino, a 47-year-old administrator.
Gonzalez Urrutia told the crowd security forces had "no reason for so much persecution."
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday he was "extremely concerned about increasing tensions in Venezuela, with worrying reports of violence."
The White House said "any political repression or violence against protesters or of the opposition is obviously unacceptable."
Long queues formed at stores and supermarkets in Caracas Tuesday as residents stocked up on food, toilet paper and soap.
Most other businesses were closed.
- 'Exceptional manipulation' -
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Maduro had the "absolute loyalty and unconditional support" of the armed forces and vowed to "preserve internal order."
There had been widespread fears of fraud and a campaign tainted by accusations of political intimidation before the election.
The Organization of American States charged there had been "exceptional manipulation" of the results.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US counterpart Joe Biden held talks Tuesday and called for the CNE to release detailed election results. Both countries host large numbers of Venezuelan migrants.
Peru recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela's legitimate president on Tuesday, prompting Caracas to sever diplomatic relations.
Costa Rica has offered Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado political asylum.
Caracas has withdrawn diplomatic staff from eight critical Latin American countries and asked envoys from those nations to leave its territory.
bur-mlr/aha/sn/pbt
REGINA GARCIA CANO, GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA and E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Updated Thu, August 1, 2024
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The stakes grew higher for Venezuela's electoral authority to show proof backing its decision to declare President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country's presidential election after the United States on Thursday recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the victor, discrediting the official results of the vote.
The U.S. announcement followed calls from multiple governments, including close allies of Maduro, for Venezuela's National Electoral Council to release detailed vote counts, as it has done during previous elections.
The electoral body declared Maduro the winner Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had evidence to the contrary in the form of more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Maduro responded with a quick admonishment: "The United States needs to keep its nose out of Venezuela!”
The U.S. government announcement came amid diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro to release vote tallies from the election and increasing calls for an independent review of the results, according to officials from Brazil and México.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with Maduro's administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election and allow impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press Thursday.
The officials have told Venezuela's government that showing the data is the only way to dispel any doubt about the results, said the Brazilian official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the diplomatic efforts and requested anonymity.
A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, confirmed the three governments have been discussing the issue with Venezuela but did not provide details.
Earlier, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he planned to speak with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia.
Later Thursday, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico issued a joint statement calling on Venezuela's electoral authorities “to move forward expeditiously and publicly release” detailed voting data, but they did not confirm any backroom diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro's government to publish the vote tallies.
“The fundamental principle of popular sovereignty must be respected through impartial verification of the results,” they said in the statement.
On Monday, after the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the election, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets. The government said it arrested hundreds of protesters and Venezuela-based human rights organization Foro Penal said 11 people were killed. Dozens more were arrested the following day, including a former opposition candidate, Freddy Superlano.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — who was barred from running for president — and González addressed a huge rally of their supporters in the capital, Caracas, on Tuesday, but they have not been seen in public since. Later that day, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, called for their arrest, calling them criminals and fascists.
In an op-ed published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, Machado said she is “hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen.” She reasserted that the opposition has physical evidence that Maduro lost the election and urged the international community to intervene.
“We have voted Mr. Maduro out,” she wrote. “Now it is up to the international community to decide whether to tolerate a demonstrably illegitimate government.”
Government repression over the years has pushed opposition leaders into exile. After the op-ed was published, Machado’s team told the AP that she was “sheltering.” Machado later posted a video on social media calling on supporters to gather Saturday across the country.
The González campaign had no comment on the op-ed.
On Wednesday, Maduro asked Venezuela’s highest court to conduct an audit of the election, but that request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.
Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice is closely aligned with Maduro's government. The court’s justices are nominated by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers.
On Thursday, the court accepted Maduro's request for an audit and ordered him, González and the eight other candidates who participated in the presidential election to appear before the justices Friday.
Asked why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council has come under attack, including cyberattacks, without elaborating.
The presidents of Colombia and Brazil — both close allies of the Venezuelan government — have urged Maduro to release detailed vote counts.
The Brazilian official said the diplomatic efforts are only intended to promote dialogue among Venezuelan stakeholders to negotiate a solution to the disputed election. The official said this would include the release of voting data and allowing independent verification.
López Obrador said Mexico hopes the will of Venezuela’s people will be respected and that there's no violence. He added that Mexico expects “that the evidence, the electoral results records, be presented.”
Pressure has been building on the president since the election.
The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has yet to release any results broken down by voting machine, as it did in past elections. It did, however, report that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, versus more than 4.4 million for González. But Machado, the opposition leader, has said vote tallies show González received roughly 6.2 million votes compared with 2.7 million for Maduro.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into free fall after Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.
___
Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo. Associated Press correspondent María Verza in Mexico City contributed.
Detainees' families gather outside the Boleita National Police detention center after their loved ones were arrested during opposition protests in recent days against the official results of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Rebecca Hanson, University of Florida and Verónica Zubillaga, Simón Bolívar University
Wed, July 31, 2024
THE CONVERSATION
Demonstrators protest against Nicolás Maduro's government in Caracas on July 29, 2024. Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images
Post-election protests are far from uncommon in Venezuela. In 2018, people took to the streets to contest President Nicolás Maduro’s reelection; they did so again in 2019 when the Venezuelan opposition proclaimed National Assembly representative Juan Guaidó as interim president in defiance of a vote they said was rigged.
It isn’t surprising, then, that there have been widespread demonstrations in the country after Maduro claimed victory again, this time over challenger Edmundo González in the disputed election held July 28, 2024.
Many in the country had viewed the vote as a chance to avoid six more years of “Chavismo” – a political project Maduro inherited from former president and left-wing populist Hugo Chávez. Since 2013, Maduro has led the country while it has faced a severe economic crisis, resulting from a combination of falling oil prices, corruption and mismanagement, and international sanctions. The crisis has resulted in massive inflation and food shortages, with the majority of the population facing the choice of living in poverty or leaving the country.
But the current protests – sparked by the disputed election results but fomented by years of economic crisis – look different. From our analysis of news reports, social media and the protests themselves, it appears they involve a wider segment of society than in the past, and include many poor and working-class Venezuelans – the very groups from which Chavismo has traditionally drawn support.
The big question now is whether this more diverse base of protesters will have any impact, or, as has happened in the past, Maduro will be able to ride out the post-election unrest by using suppressive tactics.
Disputed result
The nature of Maduro’s claimed victory meant that protests were always likely.
The fairness of the elections had been called into question for months leading up to the actual vote due to government interference, such as the disqualification of Maria Corina Machado – the opposition’s de facto leader – and the arrest of campaign workers and activists.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. Alfredo Lasry R/Getty Images
While in the past the opposition has been quick to call for a boycott of the polls, Machado and her replacement candidate, González, remained committed to the electoral path this time.
Venezuela’s Electoral Council released the results shortly after midnight on July 29, indicating that Maduro won with 51.2% of the vote, while González received 44.2%. This contrasted with exit polls and documentation the opposition had collected from around 40% of voting centers that seemed to show González winning with 70% of the vote.
The opposition immediately called the results into question, claiming that they had not been verified. International observers likewise cast doubt on the result’s validity.
The Carter Center, which has provided international observation of elections in Venezuela for years, released a statement saying the presidential election could not be considered democratic, adding that the vote “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages and violated numerous provisions of its own national laws.”
The statement continued that the election had taken place in “an environment of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society organizations and the media” and that there had been “a clear bias in favor of the incumbent.”
Actions taken by Maduro’s government have further fueled speculations. According to the opposition, on the night of the election, documents used by citizen observers to verify results were not handed over in most voting centers. According to Venezuelan journalist Eugenio Martínez, paper counts were handed over in only half of the country’s 30,026 voting centers.
The government has yet to publish voting tallies that could be used to verify or debunk either side’s claim to victory. Leaders from across the region, including Chilean President Gabriel Boric, the Biden administration and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have since called on Maduro to release the full results.
Pots-and-pans protest
Protests against this lack of transparency began the day after the election and have continued. While such mobilization against the government has become a feature of Chavista Venezuela, the current protests are notable for the range of people coming out onto the streets.
Middle- and upper-class Venezuelans have often turned out en masse hoping to remove Maduro from office, sometimes encouraged by radical opposition voices urging undemocratic means to do so. Such opposition has been fueled by a multiplicity of factors, including the government’s clear turn toward authoritarianism and maneuvers to stay in power that have eroded democratic institutions.
But this round of protests has been characterized by mass participation from low-income and working-class people, too. While protests involving Venezuelans did break out across poorer neighborhoods in 2019, they were smaller and less sustained than the ones seen in recent days.
Videos of residents in low-income areas like Petare, Catia, Valles del Tuy and other historical strongholds of Chavismo have been shared across social media, with residents banging pots, burning tires and marching in the streets.
“Cacerolazos” – a traditional protest practice that involves banging pots and pans together – have even been heard throughout the former Chavista bastion that houses the Cuartel de la Montaña, where the mausoleum of Chávez – who died in office in 2013 – is located.
Elsewhere, statues of Chávez and posters of Maduro have been torn down and pummeled amid the outrage over what is perceived as blatant manipulation that crossed a threshold.
“They went too far” is a refrain that has been heard among protesters since the election.
While media outlets have pointed to protests in the barrios – the term used for urban, low-income neighborhoods in Venezuela – that range from spontaneous to slightly more organized, the government has written off the demonstrations as coordinated events staged by the “fascist right” and funded by the United States.
Offering an alternative
Maduro’s refusal to recognize that people who used to back him are now protesting against him reveals the vast distance that has opened between Venezuela’s Chavista government and its traditional base.
To be sure, protests in low-income neighborhoods should not be conflated with committed support for the opposition. Indeed, for years we’ve observed that people in Venezuela’s barrios distrust and are disillusioned with both the government and the opposition.
But these protests suggest that disgust with the current political system and outrage over suspected electoral fraud are now driving that discontent.
The protests are a response to years of crisis, corruption, fiscal irresponsibility and shortages, all of which have led to families being torn apart. An estimated 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country to escape these problems. The issues affect everyone in Venezuela, but are particularly devastating for low-income people.
At the same time, many Venezuelans have felt more hopeful due to Machado’s rising popularity. After spending significant time campaigning in rural and working-class communities, she and González seemed to offer an alternative to the current situation.
Maduro’s response
The question now is whether this change in the protesters’ demographics will make a difference.
The Maduro government has signaled that it will remain inflexible in the face of widespread demonstrations, taking whatever actions necessary to stay in power. Still, while unlikely, protests in low-income neighborhoods could convince certain factions within the government that Chavismo has lost the support of the people it claims to represent.
Pressure from within the government, combined with objections from regional leaders, could perhaps influence the political calculations of Maduro.
But past experience points to a different response. After waves of protests in 2017 and 2019, Maduro turned to extreme repression by state security forces and nonstate armed groups – known as “colectivos” – whose members are loyal to the government and have much to lose if there is a regime change. Increasingly, the government has unleashed massive lethal violence in low-income neighborhoods when it has felt threatened. Much of this repression, consisting of police and military raids, has been framed as crime-fighting. But as our research has shown, it is also aimed at tamping down social unrest.
Maduro’s response will likely involve violence against traditional opposition groups that have long mobilized against the government. But we believe poorer Venezuelans, turning out to protest in numbers not seen before, will suffer the most.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Rebecca Hanson, University of Florida and Verónica Zubillaga, Simón Bolívar University
Fresh protests in Venezuela as anger grows at disputed election result
Ione Wells in Caracas and Vanessa Buschschlüter in London - BBC News
Wed, July 31, 2024
Venezuelans have been gathering in central Caracas for a second day [Reuters]
Fresh protests have broken out in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, after the disputed result of the country's presidential election.
Thousands gathered in the city centre to show their opposition to President Nicolás Maduro's claim of victory.
Many said they would not stop until there was a new government, and some said this would only be achieved if the security forces joined opposition protesters.
However the military and police have so far remained loyal to Mr Maduro and have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at some protesters.
Local officials say around 750 people have been arrested. Two leading NGOs in the country say several people have died and dozens have been injured.
On Tuesday, Venezuela's defence minister described the protests as "a coup".
Surrounded by armed troops, Gen Vladimir Padrino read out a statement saying that President Nicolás Maduro had the "absolute loyalty and unconditional support" of the military.
Venezuela's attorney general, who is a close ally of Mr Maduro, said a soldier had been killed in the anti-government protests.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado called for protests to be peaceful.
"We must proceed in a peaceful manner. We should not fall into the provocations the government has set us. They want to make Venezuelans face off against each other," she said.
"Our candidate won 70% of the votes. We united a country, Venezuelans who once believed in Maduro are with us today.”
One anti-government protester who did not want to be named because he feared repercussions from the security forces, told the BBC they had seen evidence of electoral fraud.
“We are absolutely sure the election was stolen. I worked in an electoral booth. The government is not recognising it, they stopped all the tallies of the vote halfway through the night. They don’t want the world to know that they lost," they said.
They said that Venezuelans who had been supporters of previous leader Hugo Chávez, known as Chavistas, were now withdrawing their support from Mr Maduro.
“This is a very peaceful protest. This is an upper class part of Caracas. What we saw yesterday was quite violent. I believe the people who used to be Chavistas are no longer Chavistas,” they said.
“I think people are hoping for a change. Most likely it will be violent.”
Wed, July 31, 2024
Venezuelans have been gathering in central Caracas for a second day [Reuters]
Fresh protests have broken out in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, after the disputed result of the country's presidential election.
Thousands gathered in the city centre to show their opposition to President Nicolás Maduro's claim of victory.
Many said they would not stop until there was a new government, and some said this would only be achieved if the security forces joined opposition protesters.
However the military and police have so far remained loyal to Mr Maduro and have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at some protesters.
Local officials say around 750 people have been arrested. Two leading NGOs in the country say several people have died and dozens have been injured.
On Tuesday, Venezuela's defence minister described the protests as "a coup".
Surrounded by armed troops, Gen Vladimir Padrino read out a statement saying that President Nicolás Maduro had the "absolute loyalty and unconditional support" of the military.
Venezuela's attorney general, who is a close ally of Mr Maduro, said a soldier had been killed in the anti-government protests.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado called for protests to be peaceful.
"We must proceed in a peaceful manner. We should not fall into the provocations the government has set us. They want to make Venezuelans face off against each other," she said.
"Our candidate won 70% of the votes. We united a country, Venezuelans who once believed in Maduro are with us today.”
One anti-government protester who did not want to be named because he feared repercussions from the security forces, told the BBC they had seen evidence of electoral fraud.
“We are absolutely sure the election was stolen. I worked in an electoral booth. The government is not recognising it, they stopped all the tallies of the vote halfway through the night. They don’t want the world to know that they lost," they said.
They said that Venezuelans who had been supporters of previous leader Hugo Chávez, known as Chavistas, were now withdrawing their support from Mr Maduro.
“This is a very peaceful protest. This is an upper class part of Caracas. What we saw yesterday was quite violent. I believe the people who used to be Chavistas are no longer Chavistas,” they said.
“I think people are hoping for a change. Most likely it will be violent.”
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has urged peaceful demonstrations. [Reuters]
In another development on Tuesday, Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Arnoldo André said it was prepared to give political asylum or refuge status to Ms Machado and Mr González.
Ms Machado responded expressing gratitude, but said her priority was to protect "fellow asylum seekers" at the Argentine Embassy in north-eastern Caracas.
"My responsibility is to continue this fight alongside the people," she wrote on social media.
It comes after the head of congress Jorge Rodríguez said on state television that the opposition pair should be arrested.
President Maduro also warned “justice must come” to the opposition leader and candidate and said he held them “directly responsible for the criminal violence".
Protest erupted after the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE) - who is a member of Mr Maduro's party and used to work as his legal adviser - declared the president re-elected for a third consecutive term.
The CNE had earlier announced that Mr Maduro had won with 51% of the votes, ahead of Edmundo González with 44%.
However, the electoral authority has so far failed to publish detailed voting tallies, which the opposition says show that the result the CNE announced was fraudulent.
The regional body for the Americas, the Organization of American States (OAS), has accused Venezuela's government of completely distorting the results.
The opposition coalition backing Mr González said they had been able to review 73.2% of the voting tallies and maintained that they confirmed that Mr González was the winner by a wide margin.
"We have the records showing our categorical and mathematically irreversible victory," Mr González said.
Key moments which led to Venezuela protests
However on Monday the CNE doubled down, announcing that all votes had been counted and Mr Maduro was the winner.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Tarek Saab, a longtime ally of Mr Maduro, warned that those arrested would be charged with "resisting authority and, in the most serious cases, terrorism".
The opposition Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party said among those who had been detained was their national political co-ordinator, Freddy Superlano.
The party warned that the government was stepping up its repression of activists who have been demanding the publication of results from polling stations.
Julio Derbis from Petare, one of the slums on the outskirts of the city, said: “We are going to fight, we hope with the pressure from the streets, we will overturn what the president is pretending, which is him sticking to power.
"The police are our neighbours, we live side by side, and they need to understand that they need to unite in the fight for all of our common good.”
Another protester, Karina Pinto, said these protests felt different to previous rounds of anti-government demonstrations.
“We have to get on the streets, it is the only way. We don’t support violence, but they are violent. We have to respond," she said.
“The security forces need to get on our side, they are Venezuelans too. They can’t be against us, we are the people."
Supporters of Maduro also took to the streets and insist he won fairly [Reuters]
In another section of the city, groups of President Maduro’s supporters also gathered to show their backing for him.
Nancy Ramones, one supporter of the president, said: “I’m not protesting anything, I’m supporting my government, the one who won. Nicolás Maduro. And I’m supporting him because he is the man that represents peace.”
“What the opposition say, they have not proved. If they say there is fraud, they have to prove it. And fraud hasn’t happened. They always have a hidden agenda.
“This is a coup that we are not going to allow, we are patriots. We are Venezuelans, we love peace.”
Milagros Arocha said: “Here the one who really won was Nicolás Maduro, here are the people, representing Nicolás Maduro. We want peace.”
Opposition parties had united behind Mr González in an attempt to unseat President Maduro after 11 years in power, amid widespread discontent.
Almost 7.8m people have fled the economic and political crisis which has rocked the country under the Maduro Administration.
The United Nations' human rights chief has said he is deeply concerned about the increasing tension and violence in Venezuela. Volker Türk called on the authorities to respect the rights of all Venezuelans to assemble and protest peacefully.
Key moments which led to Venezuela protests
Choreographed celebrations in Venezuela as Maduro claims win
Venezuela's Maduro asks top court to audit the presidential election, but observers cry foul
REGINA GARCIA CANO and GISELA SALOMON
Updated Wed, July 31, 2024 at 5:59 PM MDT·6 min read
51
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday asked Venezuela’s high court to conduct an audit of the presidential election after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory, drawing criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.
Maduro told reporters that the ruling party is also ready to show all the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election.
“I throw myself before justice,” he said outside the Supreme Tribunal of Justice headquarters in the capital, Caracas, adding that he is “willing to be summoned, questioned, investigated.”
This is Maduro's first concession to demands for more transparency about the election. However, the court is closely aligned with his government; the court's justices are proposed by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers.
The Carter Center, which sent a delegation to Venezuela to monitor the election, criticized Maduro's audit request, saying the court would not provide an independent review.
“You have another government institution, which is appointed by the government, to verify the government numbers for the election results, which are in question,” said Jennie K. Lincoln, who led the delegation. “This is not an independent assessment.”
The Atlanta-based group said Tuesday night that it was unable to verify the announced results and criticized what it called a “complete lack of transparency” in declaring Maduro the winner. Venezuela’s electoral authorities allowed the Carter Center to send 17 observers.
Maduro's main challenger, Edmundo González, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado say they obtained more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed. They said the release of the data on those tallies would prove Maduro lost.
Maduro insisted to reporters that there had been a plot against his government and that the electoral system was hacked. Asked later on during a news conference why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council has come under attack, including cyber-attacks.
“Engineers are fighting right now” to solve those attacks, he said without elaborating.
The government presented some videos that the president said showed people attacking and torching some electoral offices. The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify the images.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said more than 1,000 people related to some of those attacks have been arrested.
Pressure has been building on the president since the election. The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to his United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has yet to release any results broken down by voting machine, which it did in past elections.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a close Maduro ally, joined other foreign leaders Wednesday in urging him to release detailed vote counts.
“The serious doubts that have arisen around the Venezuelan electoral process can lead its people to a deep violent polarization with serious consequences of permanent division,” Petro said on the social platform X.
“I invite the Venezuelan government to allow the elections to end in peace, allowing a transparent vote count, with the counting of votes, and with the supervision of all the political forces of its country and professional international supervision,” he added.
Petro proposed that Maduro’s government and the opposition reach an agreement “that allows for the maximum respect of the (political) force that has lost the elections.” The agreement, he said, could be submitted to the United Nations Security Council.
His comments came a day after another ally, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, along with U.S. President Joe Biden, called for the “immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level.”
Brazil’s presidential office refused to comment Wednesday on whether an audit by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice would amount to an independent verification. Instead, it pointed to a Monday statement from the Ministry for Foreign Relations saying the government awaits “the publication by the National Electoral Council of data broken down by polling station, an indispensable step for the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the election result.”
Lula said of Maduro on Tuesday that “the more transparency there is, the greater his chance of having peace to govern Venezuela.”
The Organization of American States convened for an extraordinary session Wednesday, but members were unable to reach a consensus on a resolution to pressure Venezuelan authorities to “immediately” publish the granular results and verify them in the presence of international observers. Seventeen nations voted in favor of the resolution, one short of the threshold required for passage. Eleven abstained, and five were absent.
According to Machado, the opposition leader, the vote tallies show González received roughly 6.2 million votes compared with 2.7 million for Maduro. That is widely different from the electoral council's report that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, against more than 4.4 million for González.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into free fall after Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history. Many have settled in Colombia.
Speaking to reporters in Vietnam on Wednesday, the European Union's foreign affairs chief said the bloc won't recognize Maduro’s claim of electoral victory without independent verification of voting records.
“They should have been provided immediately, as in any democratic electoral process,” Josep Borrell said.
Within hours of the electoral council saying Maduro had won, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Caracas and other cities. The protests, which continued into Tuesday, turned violent at times, and law enforcement responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.
The Venezuela-based human rights organization Foro Penal said 11 people, including two minors, were killed in election-related unrest.
Maduro’s closest ruling party allies quickly came to his defense. National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez — his chief negotiator in dialogues with the U.S. and the opposition — insisted Maduro was the indisputable winner and called his opponents violent fascists. He called for Machado and González to be arrested.
Machado and González urged their supporters to remain calm.
“I ask Venezuelans to continue in peace, demanding that the result be respected and the tally sheets be published,” González said on X. “This victory, which belongs to all of us, will unite us and reconcile us as a nation.”
___
Salomon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Ella Joyner in Brussels and Eleonore Hughes in Rio de Janeiro contributed.
Venezuelans fear for relatives after mass arrests
Ione Wells - South America Correspondent
Ione Wells - South America Correspondent
BBC
Thu, August 1, 2024
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested following protests sparked by Venezuela's disputed election [Reuters]
“I haven’t been able to see him. Or give him food. Or hand him his clothes. I don’t know if he has been beaten. I don’t know if he has bathed. Or eaten.”
‘Isabella’, who did not want to be named, is desperately worried for her son.
Through tears, she explains that he, 28, and his girlfriend, 17, were arrested and beaten after the family joined a march in Caracas protesting against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro the day after Sunday’s presidential election.
Mr Maduro claimed victory, which was instantly disputed by the opposition who say they have evidence from electronic voting machines that they, not the government, won.
They and many governments around the world have demanded proof from President Maduro that he won the election.
He has said he will publish the vote tallies, but not when.
Thu, August 1, 2024
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested following protests sparked by Venezuela's disputed election [Reuters]
“I haven’t been able to see him. Or give him food. Or hand him his clothes. I don’t know if he has been beaten. I don’t know if he has bathed. Or eaten.”
‘Isabella’, who did not want to be named, is desperately worried for her son.
Through tears, she explains that he, 28, and his girlfriend, 17, were arrested and beaten after the family joined a march in Caracas protesting against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro the day after Sunday’s presidential election.
Mr Maduro claimed victory, which was instantly disputed by the opposition who say they have evidence from electronic voting machines that they, not the government, won.
They and many governments around the world have demanded proof from President Maduro that he won the election.
He has said he will publish the vote tallies, but not when.
Isabella says she has not heard from her son since he was arrested [Paulo Koba / BBC]
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called for protests “in every city” in Venezuela on Saturday against President Maduro and the disputed election result.
She said on social media “we must remain firm, organised and mobilised with the pride of having achieved a historic victory on 28 July".
The government has said Ms Machado should be arrested.
It comes after Ms Machado wrote in the Wall Street Journal she is in “hiding” and fearing for her “life” and “freedom.”
So far, the Venezuelan government says more than 1,000 people have been arrested in protests set off by the disputed election.
Isabella has very little information about her son. She has been waiting anxiously outside the police station where she believes he is, hoping for answers.
She says on Monday the National Guard “unjustly grabbed” her son and others at the march:
“They were not harming anyone. They did not have stones. They did not have weapons. They only protested.
"They beat him. They accused them of being terrorists for defending their country, for wanting change,” she says.
“We went out to march because we want a change, because we can no longer stand this government. There is so much misery, so much hunger, so much crime, so much injustice towards innocent people, many people dying in hospitals.”
She shows us a photograph of her granddaughter who she says died in December last year because there was no oxygen for treatment in the hospital where she was.
“There were 12 children who died because there was no oxygen,” she says.
“I want Venezuela to be the same as before, where we work with dignity. Where we earned a decent salary. Where our children and grandchildren could study. My daughter and son left university because there are no teachers.
“The government does not want kids to study, it wants us to continue in misery, to be ignorant, to not speak out. How is it possible that you go to a hospital and you have to buy everything? There is no oxygen. There is nothing.”
She said her son was accused of “terrorism” which can carry a sentence of years in prison, but she says the government has no evidence.
The disputed vote sparked anti-government protests across Venezuela [Reuters]
Alberto Romero, a lawyer with the human rights group Foro Penal, said there were about 200 people detained just in the police station where Isabella has been waiting, including children.
“There are 11 minors here,” he said.
“It’s totally illegal. This is not actually a prison, it’s just a police station. It’s not possible for lawyers to get in. No one has had the opportunity to see these people that are being detained, we don’t know the conditions."
The judiciary in Venezuela is controlled by the government.
“The people detained are not allowed private defenders. Public defenders are part of the state. So the one who accused you, is the one who defends you,” he added.
He said that many of the families who he is representing had relatives detained for just “walking in the street” on the day of protests, adding the purpose was “intimidation” of the Venezuelan people.
Foro Penal have verified and identified 711 people who have been detained and 11 people who have died since 29 August when protests began.
Maduro manoeuvring to stay in power in Venezuela
Key moments which led to Venezuela protests
Nicolás Maduro: The leader who promised to win 'by hook or by crook'
Venezuela's attorney general has said there have been more than 1,000 detentions.
An opposition politician, Freddy Superlano, who has been a fierce critic of President Maduro has also been detained. A video shared on social media showed six men putting him in a van and taking him away.
His family have demanded proof that he is still alive and do not know his whereabouts.
On Wednesday, President Maduro asked the Supreme Court to act against protesters – paving the way for further arrests.
President Maduro has described anti-government protesters as "criminals" [EPA]
His government has also accused the opposition leader, Ms Machado, and its presidential candidate, Edmundo González, of inciting violence by disputing the election result and has said they should be arrested.
President Maduro called the opposition leaders a “perverse and macabre duo who have to take responsibility” for protesters he described as “criminals.”
He has strongly denied electoral fraud and has accused the opposition of instigating a “coup”.
But, in an intervention, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington rejected Mr Maduro’s "unsubstantiated allegations" against opposition leaders.
In a statement Mr Blinken said threats to arrest Ms Machado and Mr González "are an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power".
"All Venezuelans arrested while peacefully exercising their right to participate in the electoral process or demand transparency in the tabulation and announcement of results should be released immediately," Mr Blinken added.
"Law enforcement and security forces should not become an instrument of political violence used against citizens exercising their democratic rights."
Despite the spectre of detentions growing, many Venezuelans are determined to continue protesting – although some are deterred by fear.
Isabella, in spite of what happened to her son, described the protests as “incredible”.
“Everyone now has internet, WiFi, Instagram, TikTok. Everyone passed a statement through the neighbourhoods saying ‘Let’s March. Let’s join for a better Venezuela'.”
She explained how the slum neighbourhood of Petare, which used to be a stronghold for the president “began to descend” from the mountains to the city.
“They started to go down, shouting, with pots, pans, and flags. Barefoot children, mothers carrying children to the march.
"The colectivo [armed paramilitaries who support Mr Maduro] yelled at us, cursed us, threw stones at us, told us ‘Viva Maduro!’ The authorities started throwing tear gas at us.
"We don’t know how this is going to end. We don’t want dead people.”
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Venezuela tensions rise as OAS chief demands ICC warrant for Maduro
DPA
Thu, August 1, 2024
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at a press conference in the Miraflores presidential palace three days after his controversial re-election. Jeampier Arguinzones/dpa
The power struggle following the disputed presidential election in Venezuela has become more heated.
Authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro said that opposition leader María Corina Machado and her presidential candidate, Edmundo González, belong in prison.
"As a citizen, I say: These people should be behind bars," Maduro told journalists in Caracas on Wednesday.
The opposition maintains that it won Sunday's election, in which Maduro was declared the winner despite allegations of fraud. The US is demanding that the electoral authorities make the lists of the votes cast public.
Maduro has promised to audit the results of the election. But the country's Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which could ultimately have the final say, is seen as deeply loyal to his government.
Maduro labelled Machado and González criminals and cowards, and tried to pin the blame for the violent protests that followed the election on the opposition.
According to non-governmental organizations in Venezuela, at least 11 people died in the riots. Human Rights Watch sid it had received reports that as many as 20 people had died so far. According to the Attorney General's Office, more than 1,000 people have been arrested.
The opposition blames the government for the protests. "After the clear electoral victory that we Venezuelans have won, the regime's response is murder, kidnapping and persecution. These crimes will not go unpunished," Machado wrote on Platform X.
Meanwhile the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) wants the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Maduro.
"It is time for justice," Luis Almagro said on Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the organization in Washington.
Before the election, Maduro had warned of bloodshed and civil war in the South American country if he was not re-elected for a third term.
Almagro claimed that Maduro was now carrying out that "bloodbath."
"It is time to press charges and request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against the main perpetrators, including Maduro," Almagro wrote on Platform X.
"We will request this indictment with an arrest warrant," he said at the Washington meeting.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been investigating Maduro's government for alleged crimes against humanity in the country. The government in Caracas rejects the accusations.
The emergency meeting of the OAS saw the organization's Permanent Council unable to reach a common position on the situation in Venezuela.
A resolution calling for the publication of detailed election results and a guarantee of freedom of assembly failed to gain majority support. Seventeen member states voted in favour of the draft, 11 abstained and five other countries did not send a representative to the meeting.
Maduro's government unilaterally withdrew from the OAS several years ago, and accused it of being in the service of "imperialism."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a small copy of the constitution at a press conference in the Miraflores presidential palace three days after his controversial re-election. Jeampier Arguinzones/dpa
Venezuelans rally to support opposition after disputed vote
Barbara Agelvis and Javier Tovar
Wed, July 31, 2024
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was blocked from standing in the presidential election, so ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia ran in her place (Yuri CORTEZ
Thousands of Venezuelans gathered Tuesday in a peaceful show of opposition support a day after 12 people died and hundreds were arrested during protests against President Nicolas Maduro's disputed presidential election victory.
They chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and "We are not afraid!" at a mass rally in the capital Caracas, where opposition leaders insisted they had the numbers for a convincing victory.
International calls mounted for the Maduro-aligned National Electoral Council (CNE) to release a detailed vote breakdown to back its awarding of Sunday's election to him.
Maduro said the opposition would be held responsible for "criminal violence... the wounded, the dead, the destruction" associated with protests.
The Foro Penal human rights NGO said at least 11 people -- two of them minors -- had died in what its head Alfredo Romero described as "a crisis of human rights."
Dozens more were injured, and at least 177 arrested, he said, while authorities reported more than 700 arrests.
The military has reported one death and 23 injuries among its ranks.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday at protesters who claimed the election was stolen and flooded the streets with chants of "this government is going to fall!"
The opposition rejects the authorities' assertion that Maduro won with 51 percent of votes compared to 44 percent for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Maduro, 61, has led the oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80 percent that pushed more than seven million of once-wealthy Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate.
He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.
- 'Cannot be recognised' -
The US-based Carter Center, whose monitors observed the poll, also called for the release of detailed polling station results.
"Venezuela's 2024 presidential election did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the vote results cannot be recognised until voting records are verified and made public.
"We ask to be provided with immediate access to the voting records of polling stations," he told reporters during a trip to Vietnam on Wednesday.
Independent polls had predicted retired diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, would win by a wide margin.
Thousands of protesters streamed into the streets of several cities when Maduro was declared the winner, some ripping down and burning his campaign posters in anger.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said 749 "criminals" had been arrested at protests and faced charges of resisting authority or, "in the most serious cases, terrorism."
Maduro's close aide and Venezuela's National Assembly president, Jorge Rodriguez, said Gonzalez Urrutia and Maria Corina Machado -- the popular opposition leader blocked from the ballot by Maduro-aligned courts -- should be locked up over the protests.
- 'Maduro dictator' -
Opposition supporters gathered for peaceful rallies in several cities on Tuesday.
Thousands waved Venezuelan flags and chanted "Maduro dictator!" and "Edmundo president!" at the Caracas rally with Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado.
"We have to stay in the streets, we cannot allow them to steal our vote so brazenly," said Carley Patino, a 47-year-old administrator.
Gonzalez Urrutia told the crowd security forces had "no reason for so much persecution."
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday he was "extremely concerned about increasing tensions in Venezuela, with worrying reports of violence."
The White House said "any political repression or violence against protesters or of the opposition is obviously unacceptable."
Long queues formed at stores and supermarkets in Caracas Tuesday as residents stocked up on food, toilet paper and soap.
Most other businesses were closed.
- 'Exceptional manipulation' -
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Maduro had the "absolute loyalty and unconditional support" of the armed forces and vowed to "preserve internal order."
There had been widespread fears of fraud and a campaign tainted by accusations of political intimidation before the election.
The Organization of American States charged there had been "exceptional manipulation" of the results.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US counterpart Joe Biden held talks Tuesday and called for the CNE to release detailed election results. Both countries host large numbers of Venezuelan migrants.
Peru recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela's legitimate president on Tuesday, prompting Caracas to sever diplomatic relations.
Costa Rica has offered Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado political asylum.
Caracas has withdrawn diplomatic staff from eight critical Latin American countries and asked envoys from those nations to leave its territory.
bur-mlr/aha/sn/pbt
US recognizes opposition candidate González as the winner of Venezuela's presidential election
REGINA GARCIA CANO, GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA and E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Updated Thu, August 1, 2024
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The stakes grew higher for Venezuela's electoral authority to show proof backing its decision to declare President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country's presidential election after the United States on Thursday recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the victor, discrediting the official results of the vote.
The U.S. announcement followed calls from multiple governments, including close allies of Maduro, for Venezuela's National Electoral Council to release detailed vote counts, as it has done during previous elections.
The electoral body declared Maduro the winner Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had evidence to the contrary in the form of more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Maduro responded with a quick admonishment: "The United States needs to keep its nose out of Venezuela!”
The U.S. government announcement came amid diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro to release vote tallies from the election and increasing calls for an independent review of the results, according to officials from Brazil and México.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with Maduro's administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election and allow impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press Thursday.
The officials have told Venezuela's government that showing the data is the only way to dispel any doubt about the results, said the Brazilian official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the diplomatic efforts and requested anonymity.
A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, confirmed the three governments have been discussing the issue with Venezuela but did not provide details.
Earlier, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he planned to speak with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia.
Later Thursday, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico issued a joint statement calling on Venezuela's electoral authorities “to move forward expeditiously and publicly release” detailed voting data, but they did not confirm any backroom diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro's government to publish the vote tallies.
“The fundamental principle of popular sovereignty must be respected through impartial verification of the results,” they said in the statement.
On Monday, after the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the election, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets. The government said it arrested hundreds of protesters and Venezuela-based human rights organization Foro Penal said 11 people were killed. Dozens more were arrested the following day, including a former opposition candidate, Freddy Superlano.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — who was barred from running for president — and González addressed a huge rally of their supporters in the capital, Caracas, on Tuesday, but they have not been seen in public since. Later that day, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, called for their arrest, calling them criminals and fascists.
In an op-ed published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, Machado said she is “hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen.” She reasserted that the opposition has physical evidence that Maduro lost the election and urged the international community to intervene.
“We have voted Mr. Maduro out,” she wrote. “Now it is up to the international community to decide whether to tolerate a demonstrably illegitimate government.”
Government repression over the years has pushed opposition leaders into exile. After the op-ed was published, Machado’s team told the AP that she was “sheltering.” Machado later posted a video on social media calling on supporters to gather Saturday across the country.
The González campaign had no comment on the op-ed.
On Wednesday, Maduro asked Venezuela’s highest court to conduct an audit of the election, but that request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.
Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice is closely aligned with Maduro's government. The court’s justices are nominated by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers.
On Thursday, the court accepted Maduro's request for an audit and ordered him, González and the eight other candidates who participated in the presidential election to appear before the justices Friday.
Asked why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council has come under attack, including cyberattacks, without elaborating.
The presidents of Colombia and Brazil — both close allies of the Venezuelan government — have urged Maduro to release detailed vote counts.
The Brazilian official said the diplomatic efforts are only intended to promote dialogue among Venezuelan stakeholders to negotiate a solution to the disputed election. The official said this would include the release of voting data and allowing independent verification.
López Obrador said Mexico hopes the will of Venezuela’s people will be respected and that there's no violence. He added that Mexico expects “that the evidence, the electoral results records, be presented.”
Pressure has been building on the president since the election.
The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has yet to release any results broken down by voting machine, as it did in past elections. It did, however, report that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, versus more than 4.4 million for González. But Machado, the opposition leader, has said vote tallies show González received roughly 6.2 million votes compared with 2.7 million for Maduro.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into free fall after Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.
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Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo. Associated Press correspondent María Verza in Mexico City contributed.
Venezuela Election
Members of the presidential guard wave flags from the regiment's headquarters during a rally by government supporters in defense of President Nicolas Maduro's reelection in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Detainees' families gather outside the Boleita National Police detention center after their loved ones were arrested during opposition protests in recent days against the official results of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
