Venezuela’s Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, warned that he will be monitoring any act that intends to initiate an escalation of violence
EFE (via 14ymedio), Caracas, July 29, 2024 — The Prosecutor’s Office of Venezuela announced on Monday the opening of an investigation into an alleged plan of people linked to the majority opposition to invalidate the results of the presidential elections, held on Sunday, in which Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed president-elect by the National Electoral Council. In a statement to journalists, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said that yesterday the electoral system suffered a “cyber attack from North Macedonia,” whose intention was to “manipulate the data that was being received” on the votes in more than 15,000 authorized polling places.
“They wanted to invalidate the votes of the automated system,” stressed the prosecutor, who blamed the attack on the opposition leader María Corina Machado, as well as former deputy Lester Toledo and former mayor Leopoldo López, both exiled opponents and members of the Voluntad Popular party.
“They wanted to invalidate the votes of the automated system themselves,” stressed the prosecutor
It is “an attack that slowed down the sending of the votes for scrutiny,” continued Saab, who appointed two prosecutors to investigate the case. He also stressed that the Prosecutor’s Office “will be monitoring any act that intends to initiate an escalation of violence to muddy the democratic celebration” and warned that these actions would constitute crimes that carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
He asked Venezuelans “not to allow themselves to be used in destabilizing agendas that respond to petty interests unrelated to the national interest, which seek the chaos, unrest and suffering of the majority.”
Maduro was formally proclaimed the winner on Monday by the National Electoral Council despite the allegations of the largest anti-chavista coalition, the Democratic United Platform (PUD), which believes that its leader, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the elections with a wide margin.
González Urrutia stated that “all the rules have been violated,” due, among other things, to the refusal of the electoral body to deliver to the PUD the voting results in more than 50% of the centers.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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