The political opposition in Venezuela has called for larger mass demonstrations in response to the controversial election victory of President Nicolas Maduro. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has urged Venezuelans to take to the streets on Saturday to protest Maduro’s re-election, which has plunged the South American nation into a political crisis and faced international criticism.
“We must remain steadfast, organized, and mobilized with the pride of having achieved a historic victory on July 28, and the awareness that to demand victory, we must also go all the way,” Machado stated on social media.
Recently, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE – Consejo Nacional Electoral) officially declared Maduro the winner of last Sunday’s presidential election. The CNE reported that Maduro secured 51 percent of the votes to win another six-year term, while his main opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez, received 44 percent.
However, the opposition claims that their tally, covering approximately 90 percent of the votes, shows that Gonzalez received more than double the votes of the sitting president. The opposition has published detailed results on a public website, but the government has thus far only shared the national vote count for each candidate, despite a recent promise from Maduro to release “100 percent of the records.”
Maduro, who rose to power in 2013 following the death of his mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez, has faced extensive domestic and international pressure to provide a transparent account of the election. He has accused his political opponents of inciting unrest and blamed Gonzalez “for everything that is happening in Venezuela,” including “criminal violence… the injured, the dead, the destruction.”
As protesters rallied in Caracas and other parts of the country, police have deployed tear gas and rubber bullets. Human Rights Watch has reported 20 deaths related to post-election demonstrations, and more than 1,000 protesters have been arrested amid fears of wider reprisals.
“We urge the Venezuelan authorities to respect the democratic process,” said Laura Dib, director of the Venezuela program at the Washington Office on Latin America, in a video shared on social media. She also called on Caracas to “refrain from political persecution and repression, and ensure the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.”
Political leaders in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, which have pursued friendlier relations with Venezuela than other countries in the region, have urged the Venezuelan electoral authorities to “quickly move forward and allow the specified results to be published.”
In response to the criticism of the election, Venezuela has expelled diplomats from Argentina and five other countries. Caracas and Lima have engaged in reciprocal diplomatic expulsions after Peru recognized Gonzalez as Venezuela’s elected president. The United States has also acknowledged Gonzalez as the winner of the election, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken stating that there was “overwhelming evidence” that the opposition leader defeated Maduro.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Gonzalez thanked the U.S. for recognizing “the will of the Venezuelan people, as reflected in our election victory and for supporting the process of restoring democratic norms in Venezuela.”