Venezuelans protest against official results declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner of July’s presidential election in Mexico City on Saturday.
Aurea Del Rosario/AP
hide caption
convert caption
Aurea Del Rosario/AP
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelans around the world — some carrying flags and other patriotic paraphernalia — heeded a call from their country’s political opposition on Saturday and took to the streets to defend its claim of victory over President Nicolás Maduro in last month’s disputed presidential election.
The protests in Tokyo, Sydney, Mexico City and several other cities were an effort by the main opposition coalition to clarify what it claims are the real results of the election. They also called on governments to support candidate Edmundo González and expressed support for Venezuelans who fear they will speak out against Maduro and his allies in a brutal crackdown at home.
As thousands of Venezuelans waved national flags, opposition leader María Corina Machado rode through the streets of Caracas on a truck while chanting “courage” and “freedom.” She later told the crowd that it was a moment when “every vote is respected.”
“Let the world and all Venezuelans recognize that the president-elect is Edmundo González,” she said to cheers and applause from thousands of supporters.
Earlier, González, the opposition candidate, wrote on his X account: “They will not be able to hide the reality of July 28: we won a resounding victory.” He did not appear at the rally in Caracas.
At the Monument to the Revolution in downtown Mexico City, hundreds of people, young and old, chanted “Freedom! Freedom!” that has dominated opposition rallies ahead of the election. “Maduro out! Maduro out!” they shouted as passing drivers honked their horns.
“What is happening right now is that Venezuela has woken up… to the point where the government does not dare to release the vote tally,” said Antonia Imbernon, referring to the voting results documents that are considered the final proof of the outcome. “What are they afraid of?”
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, whose members are loyal to the ruling party, declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 election hours after polls closed. Unlike previous presidential elections, the electoral body did not release detailed vote tally data to back up its claim that Maduro won 6.4 million votes while González, who represents the opposition coalition United Platform, won 5.3 million votes.
But González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado shocked Venezuelans when they revealed that they had collected more than 80% of the votes cast by every electronic voting machine after the polls closed. They said the documents showed González had won by a wide margin and were uploaded to a website for anyone to view.
Machado urged supporters to print out ballots from their polling stations and bring them to protests on Saturday. In Mexico City, some held signs criticizing the Mexican government’s decision not to attend a hearing at the Organization of American States focused on Venezuela’s electoral crisis on Friday.
“Mexico, we miss you at OEA,” reads a sign in the Spanish acronym for the regional agency.
The opposition has repeatedly expressed its need for international help to force Maduro to accept the unfavorable results of the election.
“The mockery this time is worse because there is evidence; anyone can see it,” said Janett Hurtado, 57, who left Venezuela two years ago, referring to the vote tallies. “(The government) is taking away our other elections again.”
Hurtado said she has noticed Venezuelans are afraid to speak out against Maduro after widespread arrests across the South American country in connection with protests sparked by the election results. She said she has friends who have not sent her a single text message since.
Security forces have arrested more than 2,000 protesters who either opposed Maduro or questioned his claim that he won a third term despite clear evidence that he lost by more than 2 to 1. Another 24 people were killed, according to the Venezuela-based human rights group Provea.
The wave of arrests — fueled by Maduro himself — is unprecedented and puts Venezuela on track to easily surpass the number of people jailed in three previous crackdowns on Maduro opponents.
Those arrested included journalists, political leaders, campaign staff and a lawyer defending protesters. Others had their Venezuelan passports revoked as they tried to leave the country. One local activist even live-streamed her arrest by military intelligence officers who broke into her home with crowbars.
“We are heartbroken to see what is happening,” said Hurtado’s daughter, Veronica Guedez, 19. “We are here to support each other as brothers and sisters.”
The opposition suffered a blow on Thursday when Brazil and Colombia — countries that have pressured Maduro to release vote counts in support of his claim of victory — began proposing a rerun of the contest. But Machado has steadfastly rejected any plans to rerun the election, saying it would be “an insult” to the people.
