(Caracas) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose re-election is contested, on Friday ruled out any “negotiation” with the opposition as he left the Supreme Court, which he appealed to have his victory validated, calling on opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to surrender.
“As for the negotiation, I think the only person who should negotiate with Machado in this country is the attorney general,” Maduro said in response to questions from journalists.
“Let her face justice and answer for the crimes she has committed. That is really the only possible negotiation here,” he added.
“We are the majority, we are the joy and we will continue to govern this country in peace and democracy,” the president insisted.
With Maduro’s appearance, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) has finished hearing the candidates and political leaders it had summoned. Its president Caryslia Rodriguez had indicated on Monday that the Court had “15 extendable days to give its decision.”
“What the TSJ says will be the law of the Republic, it will be a sacred sentence,” said Maduro.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, summoned on Wednesday, did not go to court, saying that by going there he would risk his “freedom but also, more importantly: the will of the people” expressed in the July 28 vote.
PHOTO YURI CORTEZ, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado
The CNE ratified Mr. Maduro’s victory on August 2 with 52% of the vote, without making public the exact vote count and the minutes of the polling stations, claiming to have been the victim of computer hacking.
According to the opposition, which published the minutes obtained through its scrutineers – the validity of which is rejected by Mr Maduro – Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who had replaced Mrme Machado, who was declared ineligible, won the election with 67% of the vote.
The opposition and many observers believe that the hacking claimed by the CNE is an invention of the government to avoid publishing the electoral documents. On Friday, President Maduro dismissed these accusations: “It is public knowledge that the cyberattack was brutal. Thirty million attacks per minute on the electronic systems of the CNE and today of Venezuela.”
Mme Machado called for “a negotiation for the democratic transition” in voice messages to AFP, evoking “guarantees, safe conducts and incentives for the parties involved, that is to say (for the members) of the regime that was defeated in this presidential election.”
Maduro has “lost his legitimacy”
“Maduro has completely, absolutely, lost his legitimacy,” she said. “All Venezuelans and the entire world know that Edmundo Gonzalez won hands down and that Maduro intends to impose the greatest fraud in history.”
PHOTO FEDERICO PARRA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia
Two new opposition leaders, Williams Davila and Américo De Grazia, have been arrested, Mr De Grazia’s family and the opposition coalition announced on Thursday, the latter denouncing an “escalation of repression”.
Mme Machado and Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia have been living in hiding for more than a week, with the former even saying she feared for her life.
Brazil, Colombia and Mexico said they took note of the process initiated by the TSJ but insisted on Thursday on “the transparent disclosure of the results”, according to a joint statement, while reiterating “their willingness to support the dialogue efforts”.
President Maduro said Friday he was available “24 hours a day, every day” to speak with the heads of state of the three countries.
The United States reiterated Friday that “only dialogue, not repression, can allow Venezuela to return to democratic norms,” the U.S. Embassy in Colombia said on Friday, calling for the release of detained opponents.
On Thursday evening, President Maduro announced that the X network was being suspended for ten days. A measure that was put into effect around 9:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. [heure de l’Est] SATURDAY).
“No one will silence me, I will face the espionage of the technological empire. Elon Musk […] “violated all the rules of the social network Twitter, which became X, and violated them by inciting hatred and fascism,” said Mr. Maduro, who regularly accuses the American billionaire of plotting against him.
Earlier this week, he had already castigated social networks, accusing them of attempting a “criminal cyberfascist coup d’état”, and also announcing that he was withdrawing from WhatsApp.
The unrest that followed the proclamation of the outgoing president’s victory left 24 dead, according to a report updated Tuesday by human rights organizations. Mr. Maduro announced the death of two members of the national guard and the arrest of more than 2,200 people.