Venezuelan President Maduro faces political collapse as opponents certify election 'rigged' and police crack down on protests
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Protests have erupted across the country in Venezuela's presidential election after both sides claimed victory and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said he had evidence of victory.
“The voice of the Venezuelan people has been loud and clear through their vote, but their morally bankrupt dictatorship remains deaf to their cries,” Isaias Medina III, a former Venezuelan diplomat on the UN Security Council and a Harvard University research fellow, told Fox News Digital.
“Not only did the regime falsify the results of our elections, it began persecuting the brave leaders who lit the flame of freedom,” Medina said. “In an incredible show of unity and defiance, spontaneous marches have flooded our streets, with citizens clamoring for freedom and the chance to rebuild our nation so that families can thrive and be reunited.”
“The international community must step up pressure on this tyrannical regime and stand with the righteous people of Venezuela,” Medina said. “World leaders must unite to condemn these injustices and support Venezuela's quest for freedom and democracy.”
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“The time has come to take decisive action to ensure that the voices of the oppressed are heard and the light of justice shines once again,” he added.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures as he casts his vote in Caracas on July 28, 2024. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado claimed on Monday to have access to more than 70 percent of the precinct-by-precinct results sheets that showed Gonzalez received twice as many votes as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The National Electoral Commission announced that Maduro had won Sunday's vote after leaking polls, illegal in Venezuela, showed the opposition had overwhelming support over Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Maduro first came to power in 2013 but many in the country and abroad have accused the PSUV of ruling as a de facto dictatorship from the start, leading opposition parties to boycott the 2018 elections and rally behind Gonzalez in the most recent elections.
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The council announced that Maduro had won 51% of the vote to the opposition's 44%, a move quickly condemned by regional leaders. Argentine President Javier Milley called the victory an “electoral fraud” and Maduro a “con man.” Chilean President Gabriel Boric called the election results “unbelievable” and did not recognize them.
“The international community and especially the Venezuelan people, including millions of Venezuelans in exile, demand full transparency,” President Boric said in response to the election results, according to Reuters.
Demonstrators clash with police near an armored vehicle during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, the day after the country's presidential election on July 29, 2024. (Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images)
Ecuador's President Daniel Novoa called Maduro's regime a dictatorship and said, “Today we are witnessing one of them trying to take away their homeland from millions of Venezuelans.”
In response to widespread criticism, Venezuela has severed diplomatic ties with countries that called for an independent recount of the election, including Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Semaphore reports that several Latin American countries plan to convene an emergency meeting of a regional coalition to discuss the issue.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration had “serious concerns” about the election results, which he argued “do not reflect the will or vote of the Venezuelan people.”
Panama went further, suspending diplomatic ties with Venezuela pending an independent investigation into the election results and voting computers, and El Salvador's President Najib Bukele claimed that the “official results have no relation to reality.”
Opponents of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro clash with riot police during a protest in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas on July 29, 2024. (Yuri Cortés/AFP via Getty Images)
Venezuelans have not remained silent and have taken to the streets to protest what they all believe to be a rigged election. The protests started peacefully, but police in riot gear escalated the situation, leading to violence by both protesters and police.
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Protesters hurled stones and other objects at police, who used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Maduro dismissed the backlash against his victory as “an attempt to stage a coup in Venezuela” and said “we already know the situation. This time there will be no weaknesses,” adding that Venezuela's “laws will be respected.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
