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 María Corina Machado and his presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, have called on their supporters to demonstrate this weekend in the wake of Sunday's disputed vote.
The CNE electoral authority in the South American country loyal to Maduro declared him the winner on Friday with 52 percent of the vote, while González Urrutia won 43 percent.
But Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay recognized the opposition González Urrutia as the true president-elect and joined the United States and Peru in rejecting the official results.
For his part, the 61-year-old Maduro – who has reacted strongly to criticism of his victory – described the allegations of vote fraud as a “trap” to justify the “coup” by Washington.
He also threatened Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia, saying they “should be behind bars.”
Maduro has led the oil-rich, cash-poor country since 2013, presiding over an 80 percent GDP decline that has pushed more than 7 million of once-rich Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate.
Experts blame economic mismanagement and US sanctions for the decline.
González Urrutia did not appear at the hearing at the Supreme Court after Maduro requested the tribunal to investigate and verify the election results.
However, other opposition candidates called to the hearing called for detailed vote counts to be made public after Sunday's vote, which was held amid fears of vote rigging.
Voting records “are fundamental for transparency, they are fundamental for peace,” said Enrique Marquez, who ran against Maduro as part of a small opposition group.
The opposition launched a website this week with copies of 84 percent of the ballots showing an easy win for González Urrutia. The government has claimed that it is fake.
Machado, who was barred from running, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that she was in hiding, along with other opposition leaders, “in fear of my life.”
He called on supporters to rally in cities across the country on Saturday to “claim the truth” about the opposition's victory.
“We have the evidence and the world has already recognized it,” Machado wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Maduro has called for daily mobilization on Saturday with “the mother of all marches to celebrate the victory of peace”.
He alleged that the opposition was planning to attack the security forces during their procession.
The NGO Foro Penal reported that 11 people were killed in protests on Monday and Tuesday as angry Venezuelans took to the streets and said their votes had been stolen. Machado said at least 20 people were killed.
Officials say more than 1,000 people have been arrested in post-election protests.
That crackdown has sparked fear among opposition supporters.
“We have dead, injured, imprisoned, missing people… People know. They are afraid. They know they are going to face armed men,” said Katiaska Camargo, an activist from the Petar slum in eastern Caracas.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Thursday there was “overwhelming evidence” that Gonzalez Urrutia had 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 on “getting the most votes,” the State Department said.
In a joint statement, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico called for “fair verification” of the results, as well as calling on Caracas to publish polling data broken down by polling stations.
Maduro's previous election in 2018 was rejected by dozens of Latin American countries, as well as the United States and European Union member states.
He has the support of the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, as well as Russia, China and Cuba.
