[ad_1]
CARACAS (AP) — The Caracas office of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was attacked Friday by masked men who caused damage and stole documents and equipment, further heightening tensions in Venezuela just as electoral authorities approved the re-election of Nicolás Maduro without first approving his reelection, according to audit records.
Machado’s group, Vente Venezuela, reported on its X social network account, formerly Twitter, that six men with masks on their faces and no identification entered the party’s headquarters at 3:00 a.m. east of Caracas and overpowered the vigilantes.
Vent Venezuela said the men painted walls, broke doors and stole equipment and documents, but did not provide further details.
#urgent Armed robbery at 3 a.m. at the national headquarters of “El Bejucal” @ConVzlaCommand and Office @MariaCorinaYA. Six masked men with no identification overpowered the security guards. They threatened them and began to graffiti, break doors, and take equipment… pic.twitter.com/9ey475uwRS
– Wait Venezuela (@VenteVenezuela) August 2, 2024
The authorities have not yet commented on the incident.
The incident took place hours after Machado, a former lawmaker who became the main promoter of the opposition coalition candidate Edmundo González after being disqualified from public office, reported that she was under protection in the face of the escalation of the situation, fearing for her life and freedom. The authorities demanded her arrest and charged her with inciting violence.
The opposition leader said in an opinion piece published in the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that she was being sheltered out of fear. “I write this from hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom and the protection of my fellow citizens from the dictatorship led by Nicolás Maduro,” he said.
Machado and González made their last public appearance on Tuesday at a large event with supporters on the streets of Caracas.
The leader released a video on her X account on Thursday calling on her followers to attend rallies in the capital and other cities on Saturday. The opposition events will be held at the same time as a march called by the ruling party in Caracas.
In a decision that could influence Maduro’s decision, he said at a news conference that opposition groups were preparing a “new ambush” with grenades and other weapons in a neighborhood east of the capital on Saturday and ordered security forces to remain on alert. The event was an opposition, not ruling party, march.
The opposition press office reported on Friday that Machado held a virtual meeting with a group of U.S. senators and spoke with them about the Venezuelan elections.
The complaint against Machado comes a day after the president accused her of promoting protests registered after the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared the president’s re-election in the July 28 elections, calling her a “terrorist” and demanding “let there be justice.”
Through a second communiqué published on Friday, the CNE president approved Maduro’s re-election for a third term with 51.95% of the votes, while González received 43.18% of the votes, with a transmission of the minutes at 96.87%, but he did not show them.
With five days until the election, the group’s page, where meeting minutes and results can be viewed, continues to be down.
Elvis Amoroso reiterated in a televised speech that the CNE system was subject to a “massive computer attack from all over the world” that “resulted in delays in the transmission of the minutes and the process of dissemination of the results.”
On Thursday, Gonzalez was recognized by the United States as the winner of the presidential election. The 74-year-old former diplomat thanked Washington for recognizing his X account.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Thursday that given the overwhelming evidence, “it is clear to the United States and, more importantly, the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González received a majority of votes in Venezuela’s presidential election on July 28”.
Maduro on Friday reiterated his criticism of the United States for recognizing Gonzalez as the winner, accusing them of facing a “coup d’etat.” “They are at the forefront of the destabilization process and the coup against the people and Venezuelan democracy,” the leader said, asking “no one to intervene in Venezuela’s affairs.”
Likewise, Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said on Friday that her winner and president-elect is Edmundo González”.
The opposition claimed to have at least 84% of the polling station records that gave González the win.
Uruguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that given the minutes compiled by the opposition recognizing Gonzalez’s victory, it hopes that the Venezuelan authorities will recognize the result and begin the process of transition to a new government.
Ecuador said it decided to recognize Gonzalez as the “legitimate winner” of the election in light of Venezuela’s “serious democratic crisis” and the “clear manipulation of the election results.”
After the CNE declared Maduro’s victory on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities were questioned and challenged by several countries and international organizations, including the United States, for transparency in publishing voting records.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that after speaking with his Brazilian and Colombian counterparts the day before, they agreed that their respective foreign ministers would remain in “permanent communication” on the situation in Venezuela.
“The minutes must be submitted. It is not enough to declare victory without them to prove the results,” López Obrador said.
Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren expressed concern on Friday about a group of journalists from Chilean National Television (TVN) who were detained by a military patrol while covering protests in Venezuela against the presidential election.
Van Klaveren said that the Chilean ambassador to Venezuela, Jaime Gazmurri, informed that the journalist and photographer would be deported to the Colombian town of Cúcuta. The network stressed that the professionals entered Venezuelan territory legally through Cúcuta with their passports and passed two checkpoints “without problems”.
A Chilean government spokesman also expressed concern, stressing that “this is the work of a team that is trying to fulfill an important and fundamental function of democracy: to inform and enforce the right to information.”
Facing international pressure, President Maduro asked the Supreme Court for an expert opinion on the electoral process midweek. The Supreme Court, which is controlled by the ruling party, recognized the petition and summoned the president, his opponent González and the remaining eight candidates to testify on Friday afternoon.
That afternoon, Maduro arrived at the Supreme Court headquarters for a meeting with eight other candidates, but González was not present.
During the hearing, Supreme Court President Carlislea Rodríguez urged the candidates and their parties to “deliver all the legal documents required” and to comply with and respect the rulings rendered.
Maduro used the event to criticize González, calling him a “fascist candidate,” and reiterated his commitment to provide “100 percent of the minutes” and other precautions required by the court. Likewise, the president suggested his opponent’s failure to appear at the hearing could represent a “grave disregard for the law.”
Maduro reported Thursday that more than 1,200 people were arrested as protests broke out in Caracas and other parts of the country hours after the results were announced.
Amnesty International on Friday expressed concern about the “alarming circumstances” of hundreds of arrests following protests and called in a statement for respect for the right to defence. Activists and relatives of the detainees have condemned authorities for holding them in solitary confinement and not allowing them private defence counsel.
[ad_2]
Source link
