CARACAS.- Thousands of opponents gathered in Caracas and other cities in Venezuela to the cry of “Freedom!” to claim the victory of the one proclaimed by the opposition as President-elect Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiawhich in turn urged the military and the Nicolas Maduro regime not to repress the people.
To the cry of “Freedom, freedom!”, supporters of González Urrutia and the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gathered on Tuesday in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities to dispute the results of Sunday’s elections, which according to the National Electoral Council (CNE)of the official line, grants a third term to the leftist dictator Nicolás Maduro.
“We have to stay in the streets, we cannot allow our votes to be stolen so blatantly. This has to change.”said Carley Patiño, 47, who works as an administrator.
Led by Machado, The opposition says it has the evidence to prove its victoryas the international community pushes for a transparent vote count.
At the rally in Caracas, González Urrutia called for calm among the Armed Forces following the deaths of eleven people in protests over Maduro’s disputed re-election.
“Gentlemen of the Armed Forces: there is no reason to repress the people of Venezuela, there is no reason for so much persecution,” said Maduro’s rival in the elections.
The US speaks out
The White House called the repression of protesters “unacceptable”which has also left dozens injured, while the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for respect for the peaceful protest of opponents.
For their part, the supporters of the leftist leader were preparing to hold a demonstration of support that would go to the presidential palace of Miraflores.
The human rights organization Foro Penal reported that at least 11 civilians have died in the protests, including two minors.
“We are concerned about the use of firearms in these demonstrations. The fact that eleven people have died in demonstrations in just one day is an alarming figure,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the Penal Forum.
The regime’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, announced the arrest of 749 people.
Opposition leader Freddy Superlano was kidnapped on Tuesday in what the opposition has called an “escalation of repression.”
“Absolute loyalty”
“There are no protests in Venezuela, but rather groups of armed criminals who are trying to attack and create chaos,” said the dictatorship’s prosecutor.
The Armed Forces, the regime’s main supporter, expressed their “absolute loyalty and unconditional support” to Maduro, said Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino, who joined the thesis of a “coup” against the regime.
“We will act decisively in perfect civic-military-police unity to preserve internal order throughout the national territory,” he said in a televised message.
“Persecution”
Relatives were waiting outside the National Guard headquarters – a military body with public order powers – where several women, including minors, are being held.
“My daughter is a minor, she is 16 years old, she is with a cousin (who) is 25 years old, they went out yesterday at 11 or 12 to walk and they were caught (…) they were not protesting,” said a 50-year-old woman who asked to remain anonymous.
A 32-year-old doctor was also waiting to hear about the situation of a relative who was arrested at the protest.
“Unfortunately we are experiencing persecution by this government,” said the man, who also declined to give his name for security reasons.
During the campaign, the opposition reported the arrest of about 150 people.
“Aberrant manipulation”
The Organization of American States (OAS) denounced this Tuesday that the presidential elections on Sunday suffered “the most aberrant manipulation”according to a statement from the office of its secretary general Luis Almagro.
Machado claims to have in his possession copies of 73% of the voting records that prove fraud, and projected a victory for González with 6.27 million votes against 2.75 million for Maduro.
The release of the voting records is also a request from the international community questioning Maduro’s re-election, including his neighbouring countries Colombia and Brazil, and the United States.
The Venezuelan regime expelled diplomatic personnel from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay in response to what it considered “interventionist actions” by their countries.
Six of Machado’s collaborators have been sheltering in the Argentine embassy for weeks. Machado has denounced a police siege of the diplomatic headquarters, where the electricity was cut off on Tuesday morning. Argentina has said that this is “harassment” against its diplomatic headquarters.
Source: With information from AFP