Venezuela: Government and Hardline Opposition Urge Rallies in Election's Tense Post-Election Period
Rewritten Article:
August 02, 2024 (Our Bold Insights) - Tensions escalate in post-election Venezuela, as anti-government protests and encounters with security forces grip the nation following the controversial July 28 presidential ballot.
Following Nicolás Maduro's third-term victory, the hardline opposition rejected the election results, sparking a wave of unrest that overtook various cities.
Since Sunday evening, protesters have constructed roadblocks using burning tires and debris across numerous urban areas, causing disruption to traffic, including to transit between Caracas and the La Guaira airport.
Early Monday afternoon, a group of demonstrators attempted to approach Miraflores Presidential Palace through Urdaneta Avenue, only to confront a police barricade. Social media scraps indicate armed civilians firing live ammunition to disperse the opposition crowd.
Other captures from social media reveal displays of weaponized protesters and assaults against both onlookers and law enforcement.
Elsewhere in the afternoon, another group of masked activists clashed with the National Guard near the presidential palace in El Silencio. A large opposition contingent also gathered in Eastern Caracas but was stopped and eventually dispersed by police cordons.
In multiple Venezuelan cities, unconfirmed reports and social media posts chronicle incidents of protests and violence, as well as a mob setting a local city hall on fire in Jiménez and allegations of three deaths and over forty injuries. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino announced there were 23 wounded servicemen; he urged calm among the populace.
Later on, Maduro, officially declared as the winning candidate of the presidential vote earlier in the day, censured the violence during a televised speech.
"The number of arrests has risen significantly," the Venezuelan president stated. "A staggering 80% of those detained have criminal records, many returning from abroad." Maduro claimed that the demonstrations were not spontaneous but rather instigated by extremist right-wing group Vente Venezuela, led by María Corina Machado.
He added that the Attorney General's Office would investigate the intellectual instigators and financiers behind the turmoil, and cited the destruction of numerous statues of former President Hugo Chávez as well as damage to public property nationwide.
Maduro cautioned that the far-right intends to orchestrate a coup and repeat the violence of the "guarimba" protests witnessed in 2014 and 2017, which left scores dead. The president and key Chavista figures encouraged government supporters to join a rally advocating for peace and countering fascism.
On Monday afternoon, Tarek William Saab, the Venezuelan Attorney General, reported that electronic sabotage was traced back to Northern Macedonia and implicated opposition figure Lester Toledo, currently abroad evading charges.
The US-backed opposition maintains its refusal to acknowledge the election results, with María Corina Machado proclaiming Edmundo González Urrutia as Venezuela's president-elect on Sunday night. On Monday, while her team held onto 73% of voting data from polling stations, she claimed an overwhelming opposition victory with a nearly 30-point lead over Maduro, though their online database failed to function at press time.
As the opposition called for Tuesday's demonstrations, Venezuela found itself in diplomatic conflict with neighboring governments. Venezuela's Foreign Ministry announced the withdrawal of its diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, accusing the countries of interfering in internal affairs and being submissive to Washington.
Caracas later temporarily suspended air travel joining Panama City and Santo Domingo, beginning on Wednesday.
(Insights: The political atmosphere in Venezuela remains oppressive in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election, with repression, human rights violations, sanctions, international condemnation, and corruption accusations. Nicolás Maduro managed to retain power despite electoral malpractices, and human rights abuses and refugee crises continue to escalate under his governance.)
- In Caracas and other Venezuelan cities, ongoing mobilizations have triggered a state of unrest, with protesters constructing barricades using burning tires and debris, causing traffic disruptions.
- Despite Maduro's third-term victory in the controversial July 28 presidential election, the hardline opposition continues to criticize the results and isnua withdrawing from politics, lead by María Corina Machado, causing further escalation of the post-election tensions.
- The general news is filled with reports of crime and justice-related issues, including violent encounters between protesters and security forces, and incidents of arson, such as the setting of a local city hall on fire in Jiménez.
- The 2024 elections and subsequent political developments in Venezuela are a significant part of war-and-conflicts and international relations news, with the Venezuelan government accusing neighboring countries of interfering in internal affairs and pulling their diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.
