Pope Francis said Venezuela is “living a critical situation” in his traditional Sunday remarks at the Vatican, adding, “I appeal to all parties to seek the truth, to avoid all kinds of violence.”
The remarks came hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Saturday that the government has arrested 2,000 opponents. At a rally in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Maduro pledged to detain more people and send them to prison.
U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CBS program “Face the Nation” Sunday that the Biden administration is worried the arrests could spark wider unrest. “We are concerned about the prospect of instability, should there continue to be these detentions,” Finer said. "The rights of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders, must be respected in this process," the leaders of several European countries, including France, Spain, Germany and Italy, said in a talk. "We strongly oppose any arrests or threats against them."
A giant Hugo Chavez balloon sits above supporters before the start of a pro-government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A giant Hugo Chavez balloon sits above supporters before the start of a pro-government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Officials have declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of last Sunday's election, but have not yet provided vote numbers to indicate his victory. Critics say he has the statistics to show he won.
An Associated Press analysis of the opposition's coalition on Friday showed that their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won more votes than the government had predicted, a clear skepticism about the declaration of the win
Gonzalez, a former candidate, and opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado - whose organization was banned by the government - are in hiding, saying they fear arrest or death. Maduro and his allies have threatened to arrest both. A supporter holds a framed portrait of President Nicolas Maduro as people gather for a government meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix )
A supporter holds a framed portrait of President Nicolas Maduro as people gather for a government meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix )
The government arrested hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets in the days following the disputed election. Machado bravely spoke out in the face of threats at a massive protest march in Caracas on Saturday, only to be thrown from the back of a motorcycle.
"After six days of brutal torture, they thought they were silencing us, scaring us or paralyzing us," Machado said during the presentation. The presence of all of you here today represents the very best of Venezuela.
Supporters of President Nicolás Maduro gather for a government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro gather at a government protest in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A few hours later, Maduro again threatened to arrest Gonzalez for not attending a meeting of the Electoral Council to which he had been summoned. The legislature, like most parts of the Venezuelan government, is under Maduro's control.
"You face serious legal consequences for violating the constitution, the courts and the law," Maduro said of Gonzalez.
Maduro also vowed to continue the crackdown on his opponents, saying he has arrested 2,000 of them so far. “This time there will be no pardon, this time there will be Tocorón,” he said, referring to a notorious prison.
On Friday, masked assailants ransacked the opposition’s headquarters on Friday, taking documents and vandalizing the space.
In his long, rambling speech, Maduro issued threats but also called for reconciliation and peace, claiming, “There is room in Venezuela for everyone,” and calling it “the blessed land of opportunity.”
Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into a free fall marked by 130,000% hyperinflation and widespread shortages after Maduro took the helm in 2013. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.
U.S. oil sanctions have only deepened the misery, and the Biden administration — which had been easing those restrictions — is now likely to ramp them up again unless Maduro agrees to some sort of transition. Late on Friday, Venezuela's highest court, the Supreme Court, ordered the Maduro-run National Electoral Council to release vote counts for constituencies within three days. Several governments, including Maduro's local allies, have asked Venezuelan election officials to release election results at the local level, as they did after the last election.
The AP processed nearly 24,000 images of the tally sheets, representing results from 79 percent of the voting machines.
According to the statistics, Gonzalez won 6.89 million votes, almost half a million more than the government says Maduro won. The same tables show that Maduro received 3.13 million votes from the votes cast. By comparison, the National Electoral Council said on Friday that Maduro had 6.4 million votes and Gonzalez 5.3 million, based on 96.87 percent of votes cast. Elvis Amoroso, the head of the National Electoral Council, said that the delay in giving all the results to the attacks on "technical infrastructure."
Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have made several diplomatic efforts to convince Maduro to accept an impartial review of the election. On Thursday, the governments of the three countries issued a joint statement urging Venezuelan election officials to "quickly and provide accurate election information.
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