President Nicolas Maduro went on the offensive after allegations of fraud in last Sunday’s presidential election plunged Venezuela into chaos and diplomatic isolation, blaming the unrest on a far-right plot spearheaded by “evil and sinister” political opponents.
Amid growing international condemnation over alleged election fraud, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader struck a defiant tone, addressing foreign journalists at the presidential palace in Caracas.
Maduro has slammed his rival in the presidential election, Edmundo González Urrutia, who he claims won, and his main backer, conservative opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
“We are now facing perhaps the most criminal attempt at a power grab that I have ever seen,” Maduro claimed, blaming Gonzalez and Machado for this week’s unrest. “All of this is being orchestrated by an evil and sinister duo and they must be held accountable,” he said, ordering security forces into the streets and urging citizens to use a government app to spy on protesters.
Gonzalez and Machado say their campaign won a landslide victory amid widespread public anger over Venezuela’s economic collapse under the incumbent’s 11-year rule and a migrant crisis that has forced 8 million people to flee the country. But Maduro has claimed victory – without so far providing evidence – sparking street demonstrations and a wave of international criticism, including from Latin American left-wing leaders.
On Tuesday, the Carter Center, a pro-democracy group that Maduro’s government had invited to observe the election and had previously praised, joined in the opposition. Assert The vote “cannot be called democratic.”
“Venezuela’s electoral procedures have not met international standards for electoral fairness at any stage and have violated numerous provisions of national law,” the group said, accusing the government-controlled Electoral Council of a “total lack of transparency in the announcement of the election results.” It claimed the council had shown a “clear bias in favor of the incumbent” during the electoral process.
White House spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference on Wednesday that the U.S. [the] “The breakdown of democratic norms” and reports of violence and casualties by protesters have “reached the limits of our patience and that of the international community,” Kirby said.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said at a meeting of the Organization of American States that Venezuelan electoral authorities had not yet released detailed results of the vote because they either did not want to reveal Gonzalez’s victory or needed time to falsify the results, and he urged President Maduro and foreign governments to recognize Gonzalez as the winner.
Colombia’s leftist president, who has good ties with Maduro, acknowledged there were “serious doubts” about the election results.
Maduro rejected such questions in two meetings with reporters on Wednesday.
Speaking in the spacious atrium of Venezuela’s brutal Supreme Court, where he announced he would share election data with officials, Maduro denounced what he called “criminal attacks” designed to topple his government and spark civil war.
Speaking later with foreign journalists at the heavily guarded Miraflores Palace, Maduro said he wanted Gonzalez and Machado jailed. “These people must be put in prison,” he said, as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside.
“If you ask me what should be done with the cowardly and criminal Gonzalez and the criminal far-right fascist Machado, as head of state I would say that justice must be done,” Maduro added.
Maduro has claimed the attempt to remove him from power is part of a global far-right movement involving politicians including Argentine President Javier Milley, El Salvador’s President Nahid Bukele, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Spain’s Vox and X political parties.
“We are facing a violent, fascist and criminal counterrevolution,” declared the handpicked successor to former President Hugo Chavez, vowing to fight back, by force if necessary.
“Venezuela will not fall into the hands of fascists, criminals or imperialists… We want to continue on the path followed by Chavez… But if North American imperialism and the criminal fascists make us submit, I will not hesitate to call on my people for a revolution with other characteristics,” he said.
Despite this defiance, observers say Maduro’s position remains precarious and Venezuela’s political future is highly uncertain.
“Trump is going to wait for this to die down and for people to get tired of the protests,” Cynthia Arneson, a distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, told The Associated Press. “The problem is that the country is in a death spiral and there’s no chance of the economy recovering without the legitimacy of fair elections.”
Caracas’ streets were eerily quiet on Wednesday, with many residents choosing to stay home out of fear of further unrest and crackdown. Most shops and businesses around the presidential palace were closed, and long lines of security forces on motorbikes could be seen lining the city’s mostly empty roads.
More than 1,000 people have been detained in the post-election crackdown, according to government figures, while human rights group Foro Penal said 11 people had been killed and 429 arrested.
Meanwhile, the South American country is becoming more and more isolated from the rest of the world as international pressure mounts. Venezuelan authorities have suspended flights to and from Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru following criticism of the elections from those governments.
Peru on Tuesday became the first country to officially recognise Gonzalez as Venezuela’s next president, but on Wednesday Maduro vowed that his rival would “never” be able to take power.
