Venezuelan citizens protest the result announced for the Venezuelan presidential election outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia. (Evaristo Sa/AFP)
- Venezuela’s opposition leader called for mass protests over the disputed election.
- President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner, but eight neighbouring countries disagree.
- At least 20 people have died in protests.
Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called on Thursday for protests “in every city” in the nation on Saturday to denounce the disputed re-election of President Nicolas Maduro.
The oil-rich Latin American nation was plunged into political crisis after Maduro was announced the victor of Sunday’s election – a result that defied pre-election polls and has drawn global criticism.
“We must remain firm, organised and mobilised with the pride of having achieved a historic victory on July 28, and the awareness that to claim victory we will also go all the way,” Machado said on social media.
Earlier on Thursday, she wrote in the Wall Street Journal that she was in hiding and “fearing for my life” after Maduro’s contested victory, which led to hundreds of arrests following deadly protests this week.
Machado reiterated her claim that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was the rightful winner, saying he won “67% to 30%” based on tallies obtained from most of the nation’s polling stations.
READ | ‘They should be behind bars’: Maduro digs in after election, calls for jailing of opponents
The government-aligned National Electoral Council declared that Maduro won with 51% of the vote. Maduro has said he has evidence of his victory and was “ready to present 100% of the records”.
“You have blood on your hands,” Maduro said on Wednesday, referring to Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado.
He added:
They should be behind bars.
Machado – who was barred from running in the election by institutions loyal to Maduro – said most opposition figures were now in hiding.
“I could be captured as I write these words,” Machado wrote, calling for “those who reject authoritarianism and support democracy to join the Venezuelan people in our noble cause.”
In a message to his supporters, Gonzalez Urrutia wrote on X: “I will never leave you alone, and I will always defend your will!”
At least 20 people have died in protests that erupted after the election, according to Machado, while more than 1 000 have been jailed.
Venezuela’s supreme court has summoned all presidential candidates to a hearing on Friday afternoon following Maduro’s request that it initiate a process to investigate and certify the election result.
After days of anxiety that left streets largely deserted, normal life has begun to resume in the capital Caracas, with shops opening and public transport operating.
A Venezuelan woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish ‘Feel you proud, we are going to the end’ during a demonstration protesting alleged electoral fraud in Venezuela’s controversial presidential election at Urraca Park in Panama City. (Arnulfo Franco/AFP)
But regional spats were widening, with Venezuela withdrawing diplomats from eight critical Latin American countries and asking envoys from those nations to leave its territory.
Argentine President Javier Milei said his country’s diplomatic staff left Venezuela on Thursday and thanked Brazil for taking custody of its embassy.
Six Venezuelan opposition figures are currently under protection at the Argentine embassy.
Brazil’s foreign ministry announced it was also taking over representation of Peru in Venezuela.
Peru recognised Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate president on Tuesday, prompting Caracas to sever diplomatic ties.
Demonstrators protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s questioned victory in the Venezuelan presidential elections during a vigil in Cali, Colombia. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP)
The US and the EU have demanded Venezuelan authorities release detailed voting data, with top US diplomat Antony Blinken saying there was “overwhelming evidence” that Gonzalez Urrutia won the election.
In a joint statement, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico urged an “impartial verification” of the result, also calling for Caracas to publish voting data broken down by polling stations.
Sunday’s elections were held in the shadow of Maduro’s warnings of a “bloodbath” if he were to lose, and amid widespread fear the vote would be rigged.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said more than 1 000 people were arrested in protests that erupted on Monday and Tuesday in the wake of the election.
He also said one military officer was killed and 77 officials were injured.
Demonstrators protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s questioned victory in the Venezuelan presidential elections during a vigil in Cali, Colombia. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP)
Maduro has led the oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80% 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 opponents in a climate of rising authoritarianism.
Maduro’s previous re-election, in 2018, was rejected by dozens of Latin American and other countries, including the US and EU members.
Years of damaging US sanctions failed to dislodge the president, who enjoys loyalty from the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, as well as the backing of Russia, China and Cuba.
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