Voices across the globe voiced concern over the growing number of detentions in Venezuela following disputed elections. Pope Francis said Venezuela is “living in 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 comments arrived hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro declared that the administration had apprehended 2,000 opponents. At a rally in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Maduro vowed to detain more people and send them to prison.
U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer stated “Face the Nation” Sunday that the Biden administration is anxious the arrests could spark wider turmoil. “We are concerned regarding the prospect of fluctuation, should there continue to be these arrests,” Finer stated. The heads of European nations including France, Spain, Germany and Italy stated “The liberties of all the Venezuelans, especially the political authorities, should be respected during this process. We strongly denounce any arrests or threats against them.”
Authorities have expressed President Nicolás Maduro as the victor in the election but have yet to produce voting counts to prove he won. The opposition argues to have tally sheets showing it succeeded. An Associated Press analysis unleashed by the opposition coalition suggests that their candidate, Edmundo González, succeeded in significantly more votes than the government argued, casting serious suspicion on the official declaration that Maduro succeeded. Both González, an ex-diplomat, and opposition leader María Corina Machado — who was banned by the government from running — have gone into covering, saying they fear they will be captured or killed. Maduro and his cadres have risked to lock them both up. The government charged hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the roads in the days after the disputed poll.
Machado braved the dangers to speak at a massive opposition rally Saturday in Caracas but was whisked away afterwards on the back of a motorcycle. “After six days of severe repression, they thought they were moving to silence us, threaten or paralyze us,” Machado stated. “The sight of every one of you here today symbolises the best of Venezuela.” A few hours later, Maduro again intimidated to apprehend González for not showing up at the electoral council session he had been summoned to. The council, like most parts of Venezuela’s government, is governed by Maduro. Masked assailants raided the opposition’s headquarters, taking documents and vandalizing the area.
In his long, rambling address, Maduro allocated threats but also called for reconciliation and peace, declaring, “There is room in Venezuela for everyone,” and naming it “the blessed land of possibility.” Venezuela poses atop the world’s biggest established crude oil reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most developed economy, but it penetrated a free decline symbolised by 130,000% hyperinflation and widespread droughts after Maduro took the helm in 2013. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have escaped the country since 2014, the biggest exodus in Latin America’s recent history. U.S. oil sanctions have only exacerbated the misery, and the Biden administration — which had been reducing those restrictions — is now possible to ramp them up again unless Maduro agrees to some sort of change.
Venezuela’s high court, the Supreme Justice Tribunal, called the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council to hand over the precinct vote tally sheets in three days. There have been calls from numerous governments, including Maduro’s close regional partners, for Venezuela’s electoral authorities to unleash the precinct-level tallies, as it has after previous elections
