Unsurprisingly, Venezuela’s electoral authority confirmed on Friday the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro, contested in the streets, but also increasingly internationally, with now four Latin American countries recognizing, following the United States, the victory of the opposition.
At a press conference in Caracas, the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, confirmed Mr. Maduro’s victory in the July 28 election with 52% of the vote, against opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia (43%).
These official figures, giving 6.4 million votes to Maduro and 5.3 million to his rival, were communicated several days late by the CNE, which claims to have been the target of “massive computer attacks from different parts of the world.”
The electoral authority has “however managed to collect today […] 96.87% of the electoral PV”, and reports a participation of 59.97%, again according to Mr. Amoroso.
“Hooded and armed”
Heir to the socialist and Bolivarian leader Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, 61, in power since 2013, is therefore officially re-elected for a third term until 2031, while the opposition has been crying foul for a week about “massive fraud” and electoral hold-up.
On Thursday, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, declared ineligible by the government and who had been replaced at short notice by Mr Gonzalez Urrutia, called for demonstrations on Saturday “in all the cities” of the country to highlight “the historic victory” of her candidate, the discreet diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Promising to go “all the way”, she said she “fears” for her life and is forced into hiding, after Mr Maduro’s explicit threats to send her and Mr Gonzalez Urrutia “behind bars”, vowing that the opposition “will never come to power”.
As of Friday, the CNE has still not published the detailed results by polling station, while the opposition says it has gathered more than 80% of the polling station slips. According to the opposition’s count, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia received 67% of the votes.
Nearly 1,200 people, accused of “fascist behaviour” and some of “terrorism”, were arrested during the spontaneous demonstrations which broke out across the country in the two days following the election.
According to human rights organizations, at least 11 civilians died during these demonstrations. The authorities reported the death of one soldier, while the opposition spoke of twenty deaths and eleven forced disappearances, and denounced “brutal repression.”
The opposition also denounced on Friday the ransacking of its headquarters in Caracas during the night by a group of armed and hooded men.
Sale Venezuela, the party of Mme Machado, reported on the social network X that his national headquarters had suffered an “attack at 3 a.m. with firearms.”
“Six unidentified hooded men overpowered the security officers, threatened them and began painting graffiti, breaking down doors and seizing equipment and documents,” the party said, with video showing the graffiti and items thrown on the ground in its offices.
On Friday, the situation appeared normal in Caracas, with shops open and many residents stocking up on supplies in anticipation of possible difficulties this weekend due to the protests.
“Incontrovertible evidence”
Mme Machado and Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia are demanding that the ballots be recounted in a transparent and completely independent manner, a demand echoed by many Western countries, but also in Latin America.
On Friday, following the United States the day before, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador and Costa Rica recognized the victory of the opposition candidate.
“We can all confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the legitimate winner and elected president is Edmundo Gonzalez,” said Uruguayan Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, speaking of “indisputable evidence.”
Mme Mondino thus repeated almost word for word the statement made Thursday evening by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people, that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the most votes in the July 28 presidential election.”
According to American diplomacy, this gap can even be counted in “millions of votes.”
In response to Mr. Blinken’s comments, Nicolas Maduro on Thursday evening called on the United States to “get its nose out of Venezuela.”
Peru was the first country on Tuesday to recognize Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the “legitimate” president-elect, prompting Caracas to sever diplomatic relations with Lima.