Venezuela’s attorney general said Monday he was opening a criminal investigation into President Nicolas Maduro’s opponents’ calls for the country’s military to stop supporting the leader and stop cracking down on protesters.
The Associated Press reported that Attorney General Tarek William Saab made the statement about the investigation, which was linked to written complaints from presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. The complaints, sent hours before Saab announced his investigation, concerned President Maduro and demonstrators who protested to defend their votes in the July 28 elections.
In a post on X, Saab accused the pair of “falsely announcing a winner of the presidential elections other than that declared by the National Election Commission, the only body qualified to do so.”
Saab also said Gonzalez and Machado had openly incited “police and military officials not to obey the law.”
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President Nicolas Maduro said Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez should receive at least 30 years in prison for inciting post-election violence and trying to destabilize the government. (Gabby Ola/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Saab said the charges against Gonzalez and Machado indicate they committed a range of crimes, including usurpation of office, spreading false information to incite fear and conspiracy.
The two suspects called on security forces leaders to reconsider their loyalty to President Maduro.
“We appeal to the conscience of the military and police and ask them to stand with our people and their families,” Gonzalez and Machado wrote. “We have won this election without a doubt. It was an electoral avalanche.”
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Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez hold hands during a demonstration protesting the results of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 30, 2024. (Alfredo Lasry R/Getty Images)
“Now it is up to all of us to respect the voice of the people,” they added.
The National Electoral Council, controlled by Mr. Maduro, awarded the incumbent president a victory with an estimated 51% of the vote to the opposition’s 44%. The council has yet to submit the results of the vote to certify that Mr. Maduro won the election.
Pre-election polls (illegal in the country) showed opposition candidate Gonzalez receiving twice as many votes as Maduro, and the opposition also claims to have collected records from more than 80% of the 30,000 polling stations across Venezuela showing him beating Maduro.
The United States ultimately claimed to have seen the tally and certified Gonzalez as the winner.
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Supporters of Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado hold up photos of themselves during a campaign rally. (Raul Albordea/AFP via Getty Images)
Maduro announced Saturday that his government had arrested 2,000 opponents and vowed to detain and jail many more at a rally in Caracas. At least 11 people were killed in the violence that followed the election results, according to the Caracas-based human rights group Foro Penal, according to the Associated Press.
Gonzalez and Machado called on Venezuelans with family members in the security forces to urge them not to follow illegal orders and not to attack protesters. They offered “guarantees” to soldiers who uphold the constitution, but promised no immunity for those behind human rights violations or those who follow illegal orders.
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Gonzalez, a former diplomat, and Machado, who has been barred by the government from running for office, are both in hiding and say they fear they will be arrested or killed. Maduro has threatened to lock up both Gonzalez and Machado.
Fox News Digital Peter Aitken The Associated Press contributed to this report.
