CARACAS: Venezuela braced for fresh protests on Saturday after President Nicolas Maduro's disputed election victory was ratified – and a growing number of nations recognized his opposition rival as the real winner.
Both Maduro and the opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado and her presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, have called on their supporters to demonstrate this weekend following Sunday's controversial vote.
The South American country's CNE electoral authority, which is loyal to Maduro, declared him the winner on Friday with 52 percent of the vote and said Gonzalez Urrutia collected 43 percent of the ballots.
But Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay recognized opposition Gonzalez Urrutia as the real president-elect, joining the United States and Peru in rejecting the official results.
For his part, Maduro, 61, who has reacted fiercely to criticism of his victory, has described allegations of vote fraud as a “trap” orchestrated by Washington to justify “a coup”.
He also threatened Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia, saying they “should be behind bars.”
Maduro has ruled the oil-rich, cash-poor country since 2013, presiding over an 80 percent drop in GDP that has pushed more than seven million of Venezuela's once-wealthy 30 million citizens to emigrate.
Experts blame economic mismanagement and US sanctions for the collapse.
Gonzalez Urrutia failed to appear at a Supreme Court hearing after Maduro asked the tribunal to investigate and certify the election result.
However, other opposition candidates summoned to the hearing demanded that detailed vote counts be made public after Sunday's vote, which took place amid widespread fears the vote would be rigged.
Voting records “are fundamental for transparency, they are fundamental for peace,” said Enrique Marquez, who also ran against Maduro as part of a smaller opposition group.
The opposition launched a website this week with copies of 84 percent of the ballots, showing an easy victory for Gonzalez Urrutia. The government claims they are forged.
Machado, who was barred from running, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he was in hiding and “fearing for my life,” along with other opposition leaders.
She called on supporters to march in cities across the country on Saturday to “assert the truth” about the opposition's victory.
“We have the evidence and the world already recognizes it,” Machado wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Maduro called for daily mobilization, with the “mother of all marches to celebrate the victory of peace” on Saturday.
He accused the opposition of plotting attacks against security forces during their rallies.
The NGO Foro Penal reported 11 deaths in protests on Monday and Tuesday as angry Venezuelans took to the streets, saying their votes had been stolen. Machado said at least 20 people were killed.
Authorities said more than 1,000 people were arrested in the post-election protests.
This crackdown has sparked fear among opposition supporters.
“We have dead, injured, detained, missing people… People know that. They are afraid. They know they will find themselves in front of armed men,” said Katiusca Camargo, an activist in the Petare slum in eastern Caracas.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday there was “overwhelming evidence” that Gonzalez Urrutia won the election.
Blinken spoke to Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia on Friday, expressing his “concern for their safety and well-being” and congratulating Gonzalez Urrutia “for receiving the most votes,” the State Department said.
In a joint statement, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico called for an “impartial verification” of the result, also demanding that Caracas publish voting data broken down by polling station.
Maduro's previous re-election in 2018 was rejected by dozens of Latin American countries, as well as the United States and European Union member states.
It enjoys the loyalty of the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, as well as the support of Russia, China and Cuba.
