[ad_1]
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro offered on Wednesday to provide “100% of the minutes” of the challenged election that led to his re-election, guaranteeing that opposition leaders who denounced fraud “should go to jail.”
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and their presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia claimed they had won the election and denounced an escalation in repression that has left at least 12 people dead, dozens injured and more than 1,000 others detained since Monday by the government.
The socialist ruler was re-elected for a third six-year term against González Urrutia with 51 percent of the vote, according to the pro-government National Electoral Council (CNE).
“As a political leader, the son of Commandant Chavez, I said that the Great Patriotic Pole and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Alliance) are ready to provide 100 percent of the minutes. Soon they will find out, because God is with us, the evidence has emerged,” Maduro told reporters at the Supreme Court headquarters, where he filed a legal appeal.
Opposition leader Machado condemned her on social media
But Maduro responded by blaming her and González Urrutia.
“Mr. González Urrutia, show your face, come out of hiding, don’t be a coward, Mrs. Machado … You have blood on your hands,” he told a news conference with foreign journalists.
He said Machado and Gonzalez should “go to jail.”
Protests that have erupted in Caracas and other cities in the country since Monday have left 11 civilians dead and dozens injured, according to a previous report submitted on Tuesday by four human rights defense organizations.
Attorney General Tareck William Saab also reported one soldier dead, 77 officers injured and 1,062 arrested.
CNE reported that its automated voting system was hacked on Sunday, in what Maduro insisted was “an attempt to exploit the electoral process to stage a coup.”
Machado claimed to have copies of 84% of the audit reports proving the alleged fraud and posted them on the website.
“They are a detriment to Venezuela, they have no ability to have political power, to run this country, they will never have political power. I assure you, I know what I say, these criminals will never come,” the president said at a news conference.
“Justice will reveal the criminal character of González Urrutia,” he declared. “Those men should be in jail,” he insisted.
International pressure
International pressure for a recount and an end to the crackdown has not stopped.
“Our patience and that of the international community is running out waiting for Venezuelan electoral authorities to tell the truth and release all the detailed data from these elections so that everyone can see the results,” said White House spokesman John Kirby, R-House National Security Committee.
Earlier, Maduro ally Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for a “transparent review with vote counting, minutes and oversight by all the political forces in the country and professional international supervision.”
The G7 also called on “the competent authorities to publish detailed election results in a fully transparent manner.”
The Carter Center, which was invited by the CNE to observe the election, noted Tuesday evening that the presidential election did not meet “international parameters and standards for electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic.”
“calm”
European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said Venezuelan authorities “must stop arrests, repression and violent rhetoric against members of the opposition”.
“The threats against Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado are unacceptable,” he said on the X Network.
Spanish President Pedro Sánchez “strongly called for calm, civility and the protection of the fundamental rights of all Venezuelans.”
Maduro’s ally, leftist Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, rejected a meeting called by the OAS to address the issue after criticizing the group for “partiality.”
Caracas has remained virtually paralyzed since protests against the recount began, with most businesses closed and public transportation scarce.
[ad_2]
Source link
