Part of the international community increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday, who is engaged in a standoff to have his contested re-election recognized, at the cost of a dozen deaths and hundreds of arrests.
“The Venezuelan authorities must end the detentions, repression and violent rhetoric against members of the opposition,” declared the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, on the social network X, a few hours after having requested “immediate access to the minutes of the polling stations”, failing which the official result of the vote will not be recognized.
“Transparency is imperative in electoral recount operations,” also urged the Spanish socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, calling for “calm, civility and respect for fundamental rights.”
Mr Maduro, 61, was declared re-elected for a third term until 2031, with 51.2% of the vote against 44.2% for his opponent. The opposition denounces “massive fraud” by the socialist government and demands a transparent counting of the ballots.
In a telephone conversation on Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, agreed on the importance of having complete, detailed results.
In Venezuela, thousands of opposition supporters demonstrated Tuesday shouting “Freedom, freedom!” to claim victory for their candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 74.
In front of his supporters in the capital Caracas, he challenged the army and the government. “There is no reason to repress the people of Venezuela,” said this former ambassador, the understudy of the leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado, declared ineligible.
“Escalation of repression”
Since Monday, at least 11 civilians, including two minors, have been killed during the protests, according to four human rights NGOs. Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported a 12th death, a soldier shot dead.
There were also 84 civilians and 23 soldiers injured, according to figures from the NGO National Hospital Survey and the Ministry of Defense respectively.
According to the prosecution, “749 offenders” were arrested during the protests, some for “terrorism”.
The opposition denounced an “escalation of repression” and the arrest of one of its leaders, Freddy Superlano. Nicolás Maduro blamed it on her.
“Justice will prevail against devils and demons,” he warned before several hundred people who marched to the presidential palace to show their support. He thundered against “fascism” and targeted his rival, whom he called “Mr. Coward.”
The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, considered that “Maria Corina and Edmundo” should be arrested, because “you do not negotiate with fascism.”
Venezuela, long one of the richest nations in Latin America, is bled dry, mired in an unprecedented crisis: a collapse in oil production, a GDP reduced by 80% in ten years, poverty and a dilapidated health and education system. More than seven million Venezuelans have fled their country.
A pillar of power under President Hugo Chavez from 1999 until his death in 2013, as under his successor Nicolás Maduro, the security apparatus holds a large part of Venezuela’s destiny in its hands.
Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino has already “reaffirmed” the armed forces’ “absolute loyalty” to Mr. Maduro.
“An aberrant manipulation”
The head of state can count on the support of China and Russia, while Washington on Tuesday deemed the repression “unacceptable”. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said he was “extremely concerned”.
The Carter Center, whose observers followed the election, concluded that it could not “be considered democratic.”
The Organization of American States, for its part, denounced “aberrant manipulation.”
Nine Latin American countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) called in a joint statement for a “complete review with the presence of independent electoral observers.”
In retaliation, Venezuela withdrew its diplomatic personnel from seven states in the region and broke off relations with Peru, which recognized the opposition candidate as its “legitimate” president. Costa Rica offered him political asylum, as it did the chief opponent.
Panama will suspend flights to Venezuela, in response to a similar measure from Caracas.
Mexican leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for his part, has asked for “not interfering” in Venezuela’s affairs, while advocating for transparency on the results.