Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on Tuesday over doubts about the results of Sunday’s elections as Nicolás Maduro was declared as the elected president by the National Electoral Council (NEC).
Protesters gathered in various parts of the capital and other cities across the country, denouncing what they consider to be electoral fraud. The main avenues of Caracas were filled with people carrying banners and shouting slogans against the government and the NEC, accusing them of manipulating the results in favour of the ruling party. Reports of repression indicate alarming figures of 11 people killed and over 100 injured. At the same time, Maduro’s government announced the arrest of more than 700 people, including opposition leader Freddy Superlano.
The protests follow public discontent with the outcomes and a call by opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was disqualified from running in the Venezuelan elections and replaced by Edmundo González. Machado called for a massive mobilization on Tuesday, claiming they have evidence of opposition candidate González’s victory, who, according to the votes counted by the opposition, secured 70 per cent of the votes compared to Maduro’s 30 per cent, as published by the opposition.
At the same time, President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez stated that María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia “must be imprisoned”. In response, Costa Rica offered political asylum to Machado, which was rejected by the opposition leader with gratitude, stating it was her “responsibility […] to continue this struggle alongside the people.”
Other countries in the region also voiced their opinions, including Chile, Panama -which announced the suspension of its diplomatic relations with Venezuela-, the United States, and Brazil. President Biden stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the US and Brazil “agree on the need for an immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level by the Venezuelan electoral authorities.” Meanwhile, Peru explicitly recognized Edmundo González as the elected president in the afternoon. These pronouncements were followed by Venezuela’s announcement of the suspension of diplomatic relations with Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama and Uruguay.
The office of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a statement condemning the lack of transparency in the electoral process, calling it the “most egregious manipulation.” The statement was accompanied by a report from the OAS Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO), which stated that, under the current circumstances, the results announced by the CNE declaring Maduro the winner cannot be recognized, as the information provided lacks accuracy and the figures published to declare him the winner reveal arithmetic errors.
With the OAS statement, a special meeting of the Permanent Council is scheduled for Wednesday, July 31, to “address the results of the electoral process in Venezuela.” This meeting was requested by the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States of America, and Uruguay.
