Caracas: Venezuela braced for fresh protests on Saturday after President Nicolas Maduro's disputed election victory was confirmed – and a growing number of countries recognized his rival as the de facto winner.
Both Maduro and the opposition, led by María Corina Machado and his presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, have called on their supporters to demonstrate through the weekend following Sunday's controversial vote.
The South American country's CNE election authority, which is loyal to Maduro, declared him the winner on Friday with 52 percent of the vote, saying González Errutia won 43 percent.
But Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay recognized dissident González Urrutia as the de facto president-elect, joining the United States and Peru in rejecting the official results.
For his part, 61-year-old Maduro – who has reacted strongly to criticism of his victory – described allegations of vote fraud as a “trap” set up by Washington to justify a “coup”.
He also threatened Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia, saying they “should be behind bars.”
Maduro has led the oil-rich and impoverished country since 2013, overseeing an 80 percent drop in gross domestic product that has forced more than seven million of Venezuela's once-wealthy 30 million citizens to emigrate.
Experts consider economic mismanagement and US sanctions as the cause of this collapse.
González Urrutia did not appear at the Supreme Court hearing after Maduro asked the court to review and confirm the election results.
However, other opposition candidates summoned to the meeting demanded an accurate vote count after Sunday's vote, which was held amid widespread fears of vote fraud.
Enrique Márquez, who also ran against Maduro as part of a small opposition group, said voting records were “fundamental for transparency, fundamental for peace”.
The opposition launched a website this week with a copy of the 84 percent vote that showed González Urrutia's easy victory. The government claims these are fake.
Machado, who was banned from running, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he had gone into hiding with other opposition leaders and was “fearing for my life”.
He called on supporters to gather in cities across the country on Saturday to tell the “truth” about the opposition's victory.
“We have the evidence and the world already recognizes it,” Machado wrote on X's Twitter.
Maduro has called for daily mobilization with the “mother of all marches to celebrate the victory of peace” on Saturday.
He accused the opposition of planning against the security forces during their marches.
The NGO Foro Penal said 11 people were killed in protests on Monday and Tuesday, when angry Venezuelans took to the streets saying their votes had been stolen. Machado said at least 20 people were killed.
More than 1,000 people were arrested in post-election protests, officials said.
This repression has caused fear among opposition supporters.
We have dead, wounded, arrested, missing… people know this. They are scared. They know they will face armed men, said Catioca Camargo, an activist in the Petar slum in eastern Caracas.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Thursday there was “overwhelming evidence” that González Errotia won the election.
The State Department said Blinken spoke with Machado and González Orrotea on Friday and expressed his “concern for their safety and well-being” and congratulated González Orrotea “for receiving the most votes.”
In a joint statement, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico called for “impartial verification” of the results and also called on Caracas to release voting data broken down by polling station.
Maduro's re-election in 2018 was rejected by dozens of Latin American countries, as well as the United States and EU member states.
He enjoys the loyalty of the military leadership, electoral institutions, courts and other government institutions, as well as the support of Russia, China and Cuba.
