Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday that she “fears for [sa] life” and be forced to “hide”, after having called for mobilization against the re-election of Nicolas Maduro as head of the country.
“I write these lines in secret, fearing for my life, my freedom and that of my compatriots,” writes M.me Machado, in a tribune at Wall Street Journalthe day after threats were made against him by Mr Maduro.
“I could be captured as I write these words,” she assures.
An opposition source told AFP that the leader “is safe” and would address Venezuelans in the coming hours.
“After this farce [la proclamation de l’élection de M. Maduro]spontaneous protests broke out especially in poor neighborhoods of Caracas and other cities. Mr. Maduro responded with brutal repression,” according to Mme Machado. This repression “must stop immediately, so that an urgent agreement can be reached to facilitate the transition to democracy […] “We will not rest until we are free,” she concluded.
On Wednesday evening, the opposition leader, declared ineligible by the government and who had been replaced at short notice in Sunday’s presidential election by the discreet diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, launched an appeal to Venezuelans to take to the streets, the first of its kind since the start of this presidential crisis.
” I count on you ! “
More than 1,200 people were arrested and a dozen killed in spontaneous protests that broke out across the country in the two days following the vote. The opposition reported 20 deaths and 11 forced disappearances.
Heir to the socialist and Bolivarian leader Hugo Chavez, Mr. Maduro, 61, in power since 2013, was re-elected for a third term until 2031, at the end of Sunday’s election won with 51.2% of the vote against 44.2% for his opponent, according to official results.
The National Electoral Council, which reported a hacking attack, has not published detailed results by polling station, while the opposition says it has gathered more than 80% of the polling station ballots. According to this count, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia received 67% of the votes.
Mme Machado and candidate Urrutia denounced “massive fraud” and demanded a transparent recount, a demand echoed by many Western countries, but also in Latin America.
For his part, Mr. Maduro threatened on Wednesday to put the two opposition leaders “behind bars”, swearing that his opponents would “never come to power.”
In the evening, he went to meet riot police deployed with helmets on their heads and batons in their hands, denouncing the “criminals” contesting his re-election, of whom “more than 1,200 have been captured”. “I’m counting on you!” he told the police.
Stock up
On Thursday, life returned to near-normal in Caracas, and public transport was running again.
“Life is returning to normal. I come home from work and buy a few things to eat for home,” Reinaldo Garcia, 55, a small businessman in the working-class Petare neighborhood, told AFP.
“We don’t know what might happen. With this uncertainty, people are stocking up. Like everyone else, I went out to do some shopping, sugar, a bit of everything. The country is in limbo,” commented Carmen, 50, still in Petare.
In the city, the police presence remains discreet, although a little more visible than usual, with night-time deployments in the most protest-prone neighborhoods.
Funerals of several of the protesters took place, such as that of Victor Bustos, who was shot in the chest in Valencia (north), the country’s third largest city.
“They took his life unjustly,” said the relatives of the 35-year-old worker, accusing the police of “firing live ammunition.”
“With speed”
According to the Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal, 46 people were arrested in Valencia, some of whom were “transferred to military sites completely illegally,” according to the same NGO.
According to Attorney General Tarek William Saab, 1,062 people have been arrested for “fascist behavior,” facing up to thirty years in prison.
Several NGOs, including Amnesty International, denounced in a press release “the disproportionate use of force by Venezuelan security forces.”
Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, all three of which have relatively good relations with Chavist Venezuela, called on Thursday for “an impartial verification of the results” and this “with speed”.
Brazil has announced that it will provide security for the Argentine embassy in Caracas, where six opposition figures are sheltering, while its staff has been ordered to leave the country. It has also pledged to protect the representation of Peru, which has recognized opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as president-elect.
According to a senior US diplomat, Mr Gonzalez “clearly” beat Nicolas Maduro, with a margin of even “millions of votes”.