Masked attackers vandalized the headquarters of Venezuela's opposition leader as tensions rose after the election
Caracas: Half a dozen masked assailants ransacked the headquarters of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Friday in the latest escalation of violence against opponents of Nicolas Maduro following Venezuela's disputed presidential election.
According to Machado's party, the attack took place around 3 am, the attackers broke the door and stole valuable documents and equipment. Photos published by Machado's party on social media show several walls covered in black spray paint.
The attack comes as top officials, including Maduro himself, threaten to arrest the opposition leader, who has been in hiding as he tries to rally Venezuela and the international community to challenge last Sunday's election results.
The Biden administration has firmly backed the opposition, recognizing last-minute candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner, discrediting the official results of the vote that declared Maduro the winner.
The U.S. announcement late Thursday called on Venezuelan election officials to release preliminary vote counts, as has been done in past elections by several governments, including those of Maduro's close allies.
The electoral body declared Maduro the winner on Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had collected copies of 80 percent of the country's 30,000 ballots and they showed Gonzalez winning by more than 2-1-1.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the people of the United States and, more importantly, to the people of Venezuela that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela's July 28 presidential election,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.
Maduro responded with a quick admonition: “The United States should keep its nose out of Venezuela!”
Gonzalez, whose location is also unknown, posted a message on Friday X thanking the United States for “recognizing the will of the Venezuelan people as reflected in our electoral victory and supporting the process of restoring democratic values in Venezuela.”
The US government's announcement comes amid diplomatic efforts by Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to allow their fellow leftists to conduct an impartial audit of the vote. On Thursday, the governments of the three countries issued a joint statement calling on Venezuelan election officials to “proceed quickly and publicly release” detailed voting data.
But it is unclear what leverage the countries have over Maduro, who has shown little sign of reconsidering his entrenched position.
Although no one in either the allies or the armed forces has been able to break with Maduro in a contested election, he faces major setbacks without the legitimacy of the Venezuelan economy that can only come from credible election results.
Venezuela sits atop the world's largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America's most advanced economy, but after Maduro took over in 2013 it entered a freefall marked by 130,000 percent hyperinflation and widespread shortages. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country. The largest exodus in Latin America's recent history.
US oil sanctions have only deepened the misery and the Biden administration – which had been easing those sanctions – is now likely to ramp them up again unless Maduro backs down and agrees to some sort of transition.
“He's counting on it being able to wait and people getting tired of the demonstration,” said Cynthia Arnson, distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. “The problem is that the country is in a death spiral and the economy has no chance of recovery without the legitimacy that comes from fair elections.”
On Monday, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets after the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the election. The government arrested hundreds of protesters and the Venezuela-based human rights group Foro Penal said 11 people were killed. Dozens more were arrested the next day, including a former opposition candidate, Freddy Superlano.
Machado – who was barred from running for president – and Gonzalez addressed a huge rally of supporters in the capital Caracas on Tuesday, but have not appeared in public since. Later that day, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, called for their arrest, describing them as criminals and fascists.
On Wednesday, Maduro asked Venezuela's Supreme Court to audit the election, but that request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court, which like many institutions is controlled by the government, lacks the independence to conduct credible reviews.
Asked why electoral officials had not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council had come under attack, including cyber attacks, without elaborating.
In an op-ed published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, Machado said she was “hiding in fear for my life, my freedom and my countrymen.” She said the opposition had physical evidence that Maduro had lost the election and urged the international community to intervene.
“We voted for Mr. Maduro,” she wrote. “Now it is up to the international community to tolerate or not tolerate a demonstrably illegitimate government.”
Machado later posted a video on social media calling for supporters to gather across the country on Saturday.
