Venezuelans rally to support opposition after disputed vote

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was blocked from standing in the presidential election, so ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia ran in her place – Copyright AFP Yuri CORTEZ

Barbara AGELVIS

Venezuelans gathered Tuesday in a peaceful show of opposition support as their leader urged the military not to “repress the people” a day after four died in protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s disputed presidential victory.

Security forces had fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday at protesters who claimed the election was stolen, flooding the streets with chants of “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government is going to fall!”

Some ripped down and burned Maduro campaign posters while at least two statues of Hugo Chavez — the late authoritarian socialist who led Venezuela for over a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor — were toppled.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Tuesday that 749 “criminals” had been arrested at protests and faced charge of resisting authority or, “in the most serious cases, terrorism.”

The opposition rejects the authorities’ assertion that Maduro won Sunday’s presidential contest with 51 percent of votes compared to 44 percent for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

The CNE electoral council, loyal to the regime, has not provided a detailed breakdown of votes cast, but the opposition says it has the voting records to “prove” its “mathematically irreversible” lead.

Independent polls had predicted Gonzalez Urrutia would win by a wide margin, putting an end to 25 years of “Chavismo,” the populist movement founded by Chavez and inherited by Maduro.

– ‘Exceptional manipulation’ –

The Organization of American States charged Tuesday there had been “exceptional manipulation” of the results.

Monday’s protests left 44 people injured, most of them with bullet wounds, according to the National Hospital Survey, a network that monitors crises in the country’s hospitals.

The military also reported 23 injuries among its ranks.

Two of the dead were in the state of Aragua and one in Caracas, the network said. The NGO Foro Penal reported another death in the northwestern state of Yaracuy.

One of the dead may have been a soldier, according to Saab, who insisted the protests were the work of “pockets of criminals, armed” and intent “to attack, to create chaos.”

Addressing supporters gathered in Caracas Tuesday, Gonzalez Urrutia urged the security forces not to “repress the people of Venezuela,” adding “there is no reason for so much persecution.”

Gonzalez Urrutia was thrust to the top of the opposition ballot after Maduro-aligned courts blocked wildly popular leader Maria Corina Machado from standing.

The candidate, a former diplomat, said an opposition review of voting records showed he had won the race with “more than eight million votes.”

People in the crowd chanted: “President! President! President!”

Machado had called on Venezuelan families to turn out Tuesday for “popular assemblies” nationwide to show support for a peaceful transition of power.

Maduro’s campaign manager Jorge Rodriguez also called on X for “large marches starting this Tuesday to celebrate the victory.”

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “extremely concerned about increasing tensions in Venezuela, with worrying reports of violence.”

The White House, for its part, said “any political repression or violence against protesters or of the opposition is obviously unacceptable.”

Long queues formed at stores and supermarkets in Caracas Tuesday as residents stocked up on food, toilet paper and soap in uncertain times.

Most other business were closed.

– ‘Absolute loyalty’ –

Amid growing fears of violence, a leading figure in the opposition coalition, Freddy Superlano, was “kidnapped” by black-clad officials, his Voluntad Popular party said on X.

Venezuela’s elections were held amid widespread fears of fraud and a campaign tainted by accusations of political intimidation.

The United Nations, United States, European Union and several Latin American countries have raised questions about the count and called for a “transparent” reckoning.

Allies including China, Russia and Cuba congratulated Maduro.

As international pressure rose, Caracas withdrew diplomatic staff from critics Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, and asked envoys from those nations to leave its territory.

Argentina, hosting six opposition “refugees” at its embassy in Caracas, complained Tuesday of “harassment” at the mission, including a power cut.

– ‘Bloodbath’ –

Maduro has been at the helm of the once-wealthy petro-state since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80 percent that pushed more than seven million of Venezuela’s 30 million citizens to emigrate.

He is also accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.

In the run-up to the election, Maduro had warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost.

Sunday’s election was the product of a deal reached between the government and opposition last year.

That agreement saw the United States temporarily ease strict sanctions imposed after Maduro’s 2018 reelection, rejected as a sham by dozens of Western and Latin American countries.