Venezuelans protest as observers say presidential election is undemocratic – Euractiv

Protesters took to the streets across Venezuela on Tuesday (July 30) to demand that President Nicolas Maduro acknowledge his defeat to the opposition in Sunday’s election, which a leading international observer deemed undemocratic.

The protests broke out on Monday after the South American country’s electoral authorities declared Maduro had won a third term with 51 percent of the vote, extending a quarter-century of socialist rule in the country. The government condemned the protests as an attempted “coup.”

The opposition believes the electoral body is controlled by the dictatorship and says its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, has received more than twice as many votes as Maduro, with 90% of the votes counted.

According to human rights group Foro Penal, at least 11 people have been killed in incidents related to vote counting or related protests in different parts of the country since the election.

The Carter Center, which is responsible for observing the election results, said in a statement late Tuesday that the election “did not meet international electoral integrity standards and cannot be considered a democratic election.”

The election authorities’ failure to publish disaggregated results amounted to “serious irregularities” and noted that the electoral process was deeply flawed from beginning to end.

Many countries have called on Venezuela to make its election results public, and U.S. sources said Washington was considering new sanctions on individuals linked to the election unless there is more transparency.

On Tuesday, Maduro and his top legislative allies accused González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado of inciting violence after the vote.

In a speech broadcast on state television, Maduro claimed that opposition protesters had beaten civilians and set fires, and held Gonzalez accountable.

“Respond, you coward!” Maduro shouted, saying both Gonzalez and Machado should be held accountable.

Jorge Rodriguez, president of Maduro’s ruling Socialist Congress party, was more direct in a speech earlier in the day, saying the two opposition figures must be arrested to punish the protesters for their crimes.

He told lawmakers: “Their boss should be in jail” and accused Gonzalez of leading a “fascist conspiracy.”

Costa Rica said it was prepared to grant political asylum to Machado and González. At X, Machado thanked the government but said her priority was to “continue this struggle” in Venezuela.

Embattled Maduro also called for more marches in a speech in which he said his government was seeking help from China and Russia over an alleged attack on electoral authorities’ systems and accused billionaire Elon Musk of being responsible without providing evidence.

Maduro’s defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino, echoed other officials in declaring that “a coup is in progress” but insisted the country’s armed forces would help thwart it.

The 61-year-old president, a former union leader and foreign minister, won elections following the death of former President Hugo Chavez in 2013. Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in an election the opposition said was rigged.

Under his leadership, Venezuela has fallen into economic collapse, with large numbers of Venezuelans fleeing the country, while U.S. and European Union sanctions have paralyzed Venezuela’s already troubled oil industry.

Maduro’s victory could spur more emigration from Venezuela, once the richest country in the Americas but where a third of the population has left in recent years.

“The regime’s fraud”

Opposition leader Machado, who was barred from running in the election but led Gonzalez’s campaign, accused Maduro’s government of vote fraud for the first time on Tuesday.

“What we are fighting here is the fraud of the regime,” Machado said in calling for peaceful protests.

Many waved Venezuelan flags and chanted: “We are not afraid!”

“Edmundo is the president. We know he won the election,” said brokerage worker Andrea Garcia, 27. “We want to live in the Venezuela where our parents lived, where there are no hungry streets.”

The opposition has long decried obstacles to candidate registration, detentions of opposition members and even chaotic ballot placement.

The Carter Center agreed with the criticisms in a statement.

“Authorities frequently sought to restrict opposition campaigning. This included harassing or intimidating people who provided services or goods to the main opposition campaign,” the report said.

The center added that the CNE electoral body, which formally declared Maduro president for the 2025-2031 term on Monday, showed a clear bias in his favor, while voters at home face a short registration deadline and large parts of the country’s diaspora are arbitrarily disenfranchised.

But with the military showing no signs of abandoning its long-standing support for Maduro and previous anti-government protests and sanctions having failed to oust him from power, the opposition’s options going forward appear limited.

Opposition protesters held marches in several cities on Tuesday. Reuters witnesses saw protesters attacked by security forces in some places. Many shops remained closed.

A protester spray-painted the word “fraud” on a road in Valencia.

Meanwhile, at pro-Maduro demonstrations, marchers danced and supporters on motorcycles revved their engines, insisting the election was over.

“We are here to peacefully support the elections whose results have been announced,” said Carmen Torres, a 36-year-old teacher, adding that despite some skepticism she preferred Maduro to a “neoliberal” government.

On Monday, protesters blocked roads, set fires and threw petrol bombs at police, who responded by firing tear gas.

In Coro, capital of Falcon state on the Caribbean coast, protesters cheered as they toppled a statue of Chavez, Maduro’s mentor who ruled from 1999 to 2013.

Security forces arrested at least two more opposition leaders amid violent confrontations at the protests.

In a post on X, the parties said Freddy Superlano, the national coordinator of the Popular Volunteer Organization, and Ricardo Estevez, a senior official of the Venezuelan Export Corporation, had been detained.

Many Venezuelans say whether they join the exodus from Venezuela will depend on the election results.

“It feels like there’s nothing for me to do here in Venezuela anymore,” said Jorge Salcedo, a 23-year-old graduate, in Caracas.

“We are going to start over in another country… We live in an oppressive country, we live in a dictatorship. This is our last chance.”

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