Written by Daisy Buitrago and Maria Ramirez
Caracas/PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela (Reuters) – Shops and public transport across Venezuela were closed on Wednesday as tensions over a hotly contested presidential election and rumors of the arrest of many opposition figures and ongoing violence kept many people at home.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, was declared the winner of Sunday's vote by the electoral council. But the opposition party says that if it collects about 90% of the votes, it shows that the candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has received twice the support that Maduro attracted.
As the dispute entered its third day amid growing calls for more transparency, the government insisted it had not produced the full votes at the polling station level due to hacking of the system from North Macedonia with extended delays, without providing any evidence to back it up. up.
The US-based Carter Center, one of the few independent observers allowed to observe the election, announced in a statement late Tuesday that the election “will not be considered democratic.” It says the process is in Maduro's favor and flawed everywhere, describing the failure of electoral authorities to publish the classified results as “a serious violation.”
In a speech broadcast on state television on Wednesday, Maduro said he dismissed all threats, including the possibility of new US sanctions.
Maduro has promised that his socialist party is ready to release all its vote tallies, and said he has asked the Supreme Court to force the opposition parties to do the same.
In the morning on Monday, the electoral authorities in Venezuela – which the opposition accuses of being in Maduro's pocket – announced that he had won another term in power, attracting 51% of the vote, by seven points over Gonzalez.
But not long after, Venezuela's main opposition coalition launched a website with detailed statistics on the level of votes that included many statistics from the country's 30,000 voting machines, including scans of the votes published on the machines.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the website showed opposition hopeful Gonzalez with 67% of the vote to Maduro's 30%, representing about 82% of polling station data.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of individual figures. Independent polls, however, showed the same margin of victory for Gonzalez.
Meanwhile, international pressure on the government has mounted to release the full results, including from regional officials in the United States and Brazil.
At a session of the Washington-based organization, the Organization of American States, Brian Nichols, the top US official in Latin America, said that the reason why the electoral authorities in Venezuela failed to release the full statistics of the votes was “obvious.”
Officials don't want to guarantee Gonzalez's victory, or they need more time to manipulate the results, he said.
“Everyone can clearly see that Edmundo Gonzalez defeated Nicolas Maduro by millions of votes,” said Nichols urging Maduro and other foreign governments to recognize his defeat.
The conflict has led to deadly, widespread protests that Maduro and his military supporters have denounced as coup attempts. Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday it had received reports of 20 deaths in post-election protests.
Some of Maduro's allies, such as Congress leader Jorge Rodriguez, say Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado should be jailed for their role in the anti-government protests, including in strongholds of the long-time ruling party.
'THEY KILLED MY SON'
The arrest of either Gonzalez or Machado would mark a major escalation, following the arrests of two other opposition leaders this week, including Voluntad Popular party leader Freddy Superlano. His arrest was captured on video showing him being pushed into an unknown car surrounded by armed guards.
Reuters witnesses in several cities saw clashes between security forces and opposition protesters, as well as attacks on protesters by pro-government motorcycle riders.
“I am warning the world about the brutal and oppressive expansion of the regime,” Machado wrote in X on Wednesday.
The popular former lawyer was barred by a federal court from running for president, but managed to rally support behind Gonzalez, a retired politician, at rallies before the vote.
Two opposition sources, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that the opposition was focused on pressuring the government to release all the votes.
Although previous waves of anti-government protests over the past decade have led to international condemnation and hundreds of deaths, they have all failed to oust Maduro.
Many worried residents have returned to their homes as many shops on quiet streets have been closed. But new violent points appeared.
At the end of Tuesday, Luis Eduardo Roberto, 19, died in the city of Upata, the capital of the state of Bolivar, following a counter-protest.
The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head according to the death certificate. Eyewitnesses, including the child's father, Ricardo Roberto, said the motorcycle guards shot him.
“I'm angry,” he said. “They killed my son.”
Bolivar Governor Angel Marcano, who is a friend of Maduro, confirmed the death, but blamed the stone-throwing protesters.
In the capital Caracas some shops were open, although the lines were long, and there was a military presence around the presidential palace.
Bus drivers in Maracay, about 120 kilometers west of Caracas, were idle for fear of more violence.
