- The number of deaths in the protests against the electoral result has now risen to 11, according to an NGO
- Most countries on the continent and the EU insist that without the verified ballots, the victory that Maduro proclaims will not be recognized
EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid/Caracas, July 30, 2024 — The disputed official results of the presidential elections in Venezuela, which grant victory to President Nicolás Maduro, resulted in protests in Caracas and several regions of the country this Monday. Several have been repressed by the military, while the majority opposition ratified “the victory” of its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, with 70% of the votes.
Within the framework of the demonstrations, a total of 11 people have died, according to the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, which leads the defense of political prisoners in the country.
Of the total, five were “murdered” in Caracas, two in the state of Zulia (northwest), two in Yaracuy (west), one in Aragua (north) and one in Táchira (west). Two of them were minors, aged 15 and 16 years old, said Foro Penal, Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón (JEP), Provea y Laboratorio de Paz at a press conference.
The total for the protests is six deaths and 749 detainees who face various charges, including that of “terrorism”
Meanwhile, at least 749 people have been arrested in Venezuela. The Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, offered an assessment of the performance of the security forces within the framework of these demonstrations, which also resulted in 48 injured police and military personnel.
Saab did not talk about the injuries suffered by the demonstrators who were repelled with tear gas and battering rams, according to the EFE agency in the Venezuelan capital. In his opinion, the arrested demonstrators are “criminals” who did not participate in peaceful protests but generated violence. They are accused of the crimes of public instigation, obstruction of public roads, incitement to hatred, resistance to authority and, “in the most serious cases, terrorism.”
The Minister of Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino López, denounced a coup d’état “forged again” by “fascist extremist right-wing factors,” alluding to the protests. He says that the alleged coup d’état is supported “by imperial factors, American imperialism and its allies.”
In the country, sleepless due to the late announcement of the first bulletin, the demonstrations began after noon, especially after the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro president, in power since 2013. He received, according to CNE, 51.2% of the votes, compared to 44.2% for González Urrutia.
EFE noted the passage of hundreds of motorcyclists through one of the main avenues of Caracas, the vast majority coming from Petare, the largest favela [slum] in the nation, some of whom dragged posters of Maduro’s campaign with the face of the Chavista leader. At the same time that there were multiple protests in other areas of the capital, as well as in 20 states, according to NGOs.
The anti-chavista leader María Corina Machado, González Urrutia’s main supporter, said that the protests were “spontaneous and legitimate expressions” of a people whose “future was being stolen by an illegitimate regime.”
In Caracas, citizens chanted slogans such as “You see, you feel, Edmundo is president,””Maduro we don’t love you” and “I don’t want bonuses, I don’t want CLAP (subsidized food distribution program), what I want is for Nicolás to leave,” among others.
Several people told EFE that the authorities have “stolen the elections,” which is why they decided to leave their homes to express their discontent.
“We are claiming our rights; the elections were won by Edmundo González together with María Corina Machado, and it turns out that the elections have been stolen once again in the country. We are now tired of that. We have children, we have grandchildren, boys who are studying, who will never get ahead with this Government,” said an elderly man.
EFE confirmed that troops of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and the Bolivarian National Police used tear gas and fired buckshot
EFE found that members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and the Bolivarian National Police used tear gas and fired buckshot at the demonstrators who were peacefully protesting in an area of Caracas until the arrival of the troops, who arrested twenty of them.
During the day, in addition, at least four statues of the late President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) were demolished.
Maduro, for his part, denounced “criminal” and “terrorist” acts, for which he blamed the majority opposition, grouped under the Democratic United Platform (PUD). He said that dozens of people involved in these actions have been arrested, which included – he pointed out – attacks on members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB). According to the Government, at least 23 soldiers were injured.
González Urrutia promised Venezuelans that “the will expressed through their vote” will be “respected,” because “that is the only path to peace.”
“We have in our hands the ballots that demonstrate our categorical and mathematically irreversible triumph,” said the former ambassador, who thanked the international community for its solidarity and support.
Machado said that the majority opposition managed to obtain 73% of the votes cast in the presidential elections, which give, he said, the victory to González Urrutia, with an “overwhelming ” difference, contrary to what was announced by the CNE.
The former deputy indicated that, according to the percentage of ballots available to them, Maduro obtained 2,759,256 votes, while González Urrutia 6,275,182, and “they lost.”
Diplomatic sources cited by the newspaper O Globo claim that Maduro has promised the former Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim, international adviser to the Brazilian president, Luz Inácio Lula da Silva, that he “will deliver the (electoral) ballots in the coming days.”
Maduro has promised the former Brazilian Chancellor, Celso Amorim, international advisor to the Brazilian president, Luz Inácio Lula da Silva, that he will “deliver the (electoral) ballots in the coming days”
Amorim, who has been in Caracas since Friday as an observer from Brazil, said before a meeting he had yesterday with Maduro, that he is “uncomfortable” with the possible lack of “transparency” of the process.
“I don’t necessarily doubt what is being said, but the (Venezuelan) Government said that it would supply all the ballots” from which Maduro’s victory has resulted, and “that has not yet happened,” said Amorim, who will be in the Venezuelan capital at least until this Tuesday and who also planned to meet with María Corina Machado.
Lula’s government emphasized that only when all the results are known will he pronounce on the victory attributed by the electoral authorities to Maduro.
For his part, Joe Biden will speak this Tuesday with Lula about the situation; the United States has expressed its doubts about the result. “By declaring a winner without the support of detailed ballots by district, the representatives of (Nicolás) Maduro have lost any credibility they might have about the alleged election results,” a senior U.S. official said in a call with journalists.
It’s the same position taken by the European Union, reiterated on Monday night by its chancellor, Josep Borrell, who pointed out once again that the results “have not been verified and cannot be considered representative of the will of the Venezuelan people until they are published and confirmed.”
The head of European diplomacy urged the CNE of Venezuela to “act with maximum transparency in the process of tabulating the results, including immediate access to the voting ballots of all the polling stations and the publication of the disaggregated electoral results.” According to Borrell, there are “reliable reports from national and international observers indicating that the elections were tarnished by numerous failures and irregularities.”
Meanwhile, the Governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic expressed their deep concern about the development of the presidential elections and demanded the complete review of the results. All of them, along with three more, convened an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) to be held this Wednesday.
All of them, along with three more, convened an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) to be held this Wednesday
The Maduro Government has demanded that Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay “immediately withdraw their representatives from Venezuelan territory.” Peru responded by expelling the Venezuelan diplomats in Lima, giving them 72 hours to leave the country.
Caracas also announced the temporary suspension, from Wednesday, of commercial flights to Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Argentina, through its chancellor, Diana Mondino, thanked the Venezuelans who gathered in the vicinity of the country’s diplomatic headquarters in Caracas after being alerted to an alleged attempt to take over the diplomatic headquarters by a group of police.
The episode was denounced by one of the six opponents who have taken refuge in the official residence since March 26.
“Urgent. At this time, officers of the DAET (Directorate of Strategic and Tactical Actions of the Bolivarian National Police) intend to take the residence of the Embassy of Argentina in Caracas, where there are six asylum seekers from the campaigns of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González,” Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli, International coordinator of the opposition party Vente Venezuela (VV), denounced on X.
Leader María Corina Machado also warned about the incident during a press conference and said that she had been informed about the presence of “armed and apparently masked officers of the Bolivarian National Police,” before asking the press and the neighbors of the area to approach the place to ensure the safety of those who are sheltered there.
Cuba has also sent its “solidarity and support” in the face of what it described as “an imperialist siege, external interference” and “onslaught of the Right”
Meanwhile, Maduro received congratulations from countries such as Russia, China, Iran, Serbia, Nicaragua and Cuba, which has also sent its “solidarity and support” in the face of what it described as “an imperialist siege, external interference” and “onslaught of the right,” despite the fact that numerous left-wing governments on the continent and in other parts of the world have questioned the victory of Chavismo.
For the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, the criticism of Sunday’s process is part of a “media and political manipulation” aimed at “destabilizing and generating violence to attempt a coup against the Bolivarian and Chavista Government and the Civic-Military Union.”
He asked that “the popular will expressed in the results of the elections in Venezuela officially announced by the electoral authority be respected, in the face of the campaign of external interference that tries to ignore them.”
In addition, the Casa de las Americas has issued a statement from Havana in which, after congratulating Maduro on his alleged victory, it regrets that “Monroe’s spirit is still alive and active” and that the “new emboldened and euphoric fascism (…) reappears, with some sudden allies, to sow doubts about the cleanliness of the Venezuelan electoral authorities and request the intervention of the sinister OAS, always ready to legitimize the aggressions of the empire.”
On the other hand, the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba expresses its solidarity and “provides its full and unrestricted support to Edmundo González Urrutia” in a letter published on Tuesday in which it also expresses its support for international organizations to take charge of “the necessary and sufficient electoral claim, and to demand transparency to reliably recognize the decision of the Venezuelan people, in favor of their longed-for democracy.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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