V enezuelans across the country took to the streets on Monday to protest a disputed election, clashing with police as uncertainty swirls around the results amid allegations of election fraud. At least six people died during the protests against the presidential election results announced by the electoral commission, according to non-governmental organization Foro Penal.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab stated that 749 people had been detained in Monday’s protests. Saab rejected the notion that the demonstrations were peaceful, claiming that they resulted in the injuries of 48 military and police officers.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López called the protests an attempted coup d’état and said that the armed forces reaffirmed their “absolute loyalty and unconditional support” to President Nicolás Maduro.
The election on Sunday was the most consequential one in years, with Venezuela’s future on the line. Many young opposition supporters said they would leave the country if authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro was re-elected, pointing to the devastating collapse of the country’s economy and violent repression under his rule. But the opposition was also energized, presenting the ruling establishment its toughest challenge in 25 years.
Though Maduro had promised fair and free elections, the process has been marred with allegations of foul play – with opposition figures arrested, the opposition’s key leader banned from running, media outlets blocked, and overseas Venezuelans largely unable to vote.
Despite Maduro being formally named the winner by the country’s electoral body – which is stacked by the president’s allies – the opposition has rejected the results, and other Latin American leaders have refused to recognize his win.
Election Results and Opposition Response
Maduro has been in power since the 2013 death of his predecessor Hugo Chávez. If he takes office again, it will be his third consecutive six-year term and the continuation of “Chavismo,” the left-wing populist ideology named after the former leader.
The opposition candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez, stepped into the role after the highly popular leader Maria Corina Machado was barred from running, following allegations she didn’t include some food vouchers on her asset declaration. Despite her disqualification, Machado remains a driving force behind the opposition, which had promised to restore Venezuela’s democracy and rebuild its once-impressive economy if it won.
Officially, the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner late Sunday, with 80% of the ballots counted. It said Maduro had won 51.2% of the votes, while Gonzalez received 44.2% of the votes. The CNE has yet to issue final vote tallies.
The opposition, however, has rejected the results, claiming their own tallies showed Gonzalez had won. On Monday, they said they had obtained more than 73% of the tally sheets showing more than 6 million votes for Gonzalez and only 2.7 million for Maduro. Gonzalez and Machado said all their tallies had been verified and shared online for the public and global leaders to see – something world leaders and opposition figures have called on the CNE to do.
Allegations of Foul Play
Opposition leaders decried alleged irregularities on Sunday as the votes were being processed and counted. The opposition said its witnesses were denied access to the National Electoral Council (CNE) headquarters as votes were being counted; their presence was supposed to ensure transparency and fairness.
Only a very limited number of election observers were allowed to monitor the vote, including The Carter Center, which called on the CNE to publish polling station-level results, saying that information was “critical to our assessment.” A preliminary report from The Carter Center was scheduled to be released on Tuesday morning, but the organization canceled its publication and is pulling all its staff from the country, according to a person with knowledge of the center’s plans.
The United Nations was also present, with a spokesperson saying afterward that UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for “complete transparency” and for the electoral body to “undertake their work independently and without interference to guarantee the free expression of the will of the electorate.”
The opposition also alleged that the CNE had halted data being sent from polling stations to the central body, thus preventing more votes from being processed. The government has also been accused of rigging votes in the past, which it has denied. Maduro’s government controls almost all state institutions, including the CNE, which was accused in 2017 of manipulating turnout figures by a software company that provided the voting technology. The CNE previously denied the assertion.
Venezuelan Reaction
Though Maduro supporters celebrated his win in parts of Caracas, Monday was marked by wider protests by the opposition. In Caracas, hundreds of people marched through the streets, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting, “Liberty!” Videos from across the country, from Charallave to Caucagüita, show crowds banging their pots — a rattling cacophony so loud it can be heard from far away across an entire city. This Latin American practice is known as cacerolazo – a spontaneous, accessible form of protest also used in Chile and Spain.
Witnesses observed dozens of national guard soldiers in riot gear repressing the mostly peaceful protests with tear gas and batons. A protester, who chose not to be identified, said, “We want peace for Venezuela, for our family members.”
Gonzalez and Machado have called for protests to continue Tuesday.
Maduro decried the protests on Monday, saying his government “knows how to confront this situation and defeat those who are violent.” He also claimed, without providing evidence, that the majority of the protestors were hate-filled criminals and that their plan was hatched in the US.
Global Response
Many regional and world leaders have cast doubt on the results, including the United States – though some of Venezuela’s partners have stood by Maduro. “We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people. It’s critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay,” a senior US official told reporters on Monday.
The foreign ministers and offices of several European nations voiced similar concerns. The electoral observation department of the Organization of American States (OAS) said the CNE’s election results cannot be recognized due to a lack of transparency and evidence. In a 23-page report, OAS said CNE failed to provide details of the ballots processed when it declared President Maduro the winner.
The OAS report accused the Maduro government of political persecution of opposition leaders, noting in particular Machado’s disqualification as a candidate. “The regime of Nicolás Maduro has once again betrayed the Venezuelan people, declaring that it respects the popular will while doing everything possible to manipulate and ignore that will,” the report concluded.
Other Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay refused to recognize the results and had their diplomatic staff in the country expelled on Monday. Late Monday, Venezuela suspended commercial flights to and from Panama and the Dominican Republic, with the transport minister saying the suspension was because it “rejects the interventionist actions of right-wing governments.”
Some of Maduro’s close allies, like China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia, were quick to congratulate Maduro.
Venezuela's Dire Situation
Once the fifth-largest economy in Latin America, Venezuela has experienced the worst economic collapse of a peacetime country in recent history. The economic and political crisis brought about by a crash in the price of oil – a key export for Venezuela – combined with chronic corruption and mismanagement at the hands of government officials.
Venezuela is now suffering chronic shortages of vital goods and soaring inflation, while the goods available are too expensive for most people – pushing millions to flee, including thousands who have trekked up north to the US’ southern border.
The US and European Union have imposed punishing sanctions on Maduro’s regime for years, which he has blamed for the crisis, saying Venezuela was victim of an “economic war.”
Last year, Maduro had pledged to hold fair and free elections in exchange for sanctions relief, in US-brokered talks. But after Sunday’s elections, the accusations of fraud now cast doubt on whether Venezuela will be able to return to the international stage.
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