25 dead, 192 injured in post-election unrest, Venezuelan attorney general announces

Venezuela’s attorney general reported on Monday, August 12, a heavy toll following the unrest that followed the contested proclamation of Nicolas Maduro’s victory in the presidential election of July 28. In total, “25 people were killed, including two members of the Bolivarian National Guard, in just 48 hours (…) between July 29 and 30”Tarek William Saab said during a meeting of the Defense and State Council, also mentioning “192 injured by firearms, bladed weapons, various blunt objects and incendiary bombs”.

The prosecutor particularly accused the opposition, assuring that “All these deaths can be attributed to the criminal groups manipulated by the ‘comanditos'”names given to themselves by opposition activist groups, who claim victory and have called for demonstrations on Saturday.

At this meeting, Nicolas Maduro, “as head of state, head of government and president of Venezuela”said to demand “of all the powers of the State greater speed, greater efficiency and an iron fist in the face of crime, violence and hate crimes, an iron fist and severe justice”.

For their part, human rights NGOs reported a death toll of 24, while Nicolas Maduro announced the death of two members of the security forces, as well as the arrest of 2,200 people. The spontaneous demonstrations that broke out the day after the presidential election were repressed by the security forces, who did not intervene on August 3, during an opposition rally in Caracas. Since then, the opposition has not called for demonstrations.