Concern and disappointment in Venezuela, after Maduro's contested re-election

Photo: Raul Arboleda Agence France-Presse A man reads a newspaper in Caracas, Monday, the day after the Venezuelan presidential election in which President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner.

Javier Tovar – Agence France-Presse and Patrick Fort – Agence France-Presse in Caracas

Posted at 6:41 AM Updated at 5:00 PM

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International criticism, protests by the opposition claiming victory: the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela is generating much concern and disappointment.

As a symbol of the prevailing uncertainty, Caracas looked like a ghost town on Monday morning with deserted streets and closed shops. In some neighborhoods, a concert of pots and pans could be heard as a sign of protest while the opposition must decide its strategy.

“Depressed, disappointed, humiliated. Humiliated because the bandit is the one who wins in this country,” says Giovanni Inglese, 65, who helps park cars on the street. He sums up the mood Monday morning.

According to official results announced Sunday night by the National Electoral Council (CNE), Mr. Maduro, 61, the heir to former President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), was re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term with 5.15 million votes (51.2%). Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, 74, who replaced opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at short notice after she was declared ineligible, garnered just under 4.5 million (44.2%).

The opposition, which had hoped to end 25 years of Chavista power, immediately rejected the result. “This is not another fraud, but a gross ignorance and violation of the popular will,” said Machado, for whom González Urrutia obtained 70% of the vote.

“Our fight continues, we will not rest until the will of the Venezuelan people is reflected,” said González Urrutia, specifying that there was no call for demonstrations.

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“Full review”

While Mr. Maduro has received support from Russia and China, as well as from his other usual allies—Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Bolivia—negative or skeptical reactions have poured in from the international community, and in particular from states that are geographically and politically close.

Nine Latin American countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Uruguay) thus called in a joint statement on Monday for a “complete review with the presence of independent electoral observers” and a meeting of members of the Organization of American States (OAS).

And the Brazilian government of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “reaffirms once again the fundamental principle of popular sovereignty, which must be respected through the impartial verification of the results ».

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In the past, Lula has long defended his Venezuelan counterpart in the face of international criticism. But Brasília had toughened its tone in the run-up to the presidential election.

Photo: Juan Barreto Agence France-Presse President Nicolás Maduro addressed his supporters early Monday, July 29.

Luis Gilberto Murillo, the foreign minister of Colombia, led by leftist President Gustavo Petro, has called for “a full vote count, verification and independent audit” because it is “important to dispel doubts about the results.”

The United States has said it has “serious concerns that the announced result does not reflect the will or vote of the Venezuelan people.”

France, for its part, has called on the Venezuelan authorities to demonstrate “total transparency” by publishing all the minutes and results, which is also demanded by the opposition.

Just like the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who advocated on X “total transparency […] including the detailed counting of votes”.

“This is not the ideal result for Maduro”, estimated Rebecca Hanson, from the University of Florida. “In terms of acquiring some international legitimacy – which was one of Mr. Maduro's goals – this election was a disaster.”

The “criminal blockade”

On Sunday night, Nicolás Maduro, for his part, celebrated his victory on a musical stage set up near the Presidential Palace.

“There will be peace, stability and justice. Peace and respect for the law. I am a man of peace and dialogue,” he said, while the campaign and the vote took place in a tense atmosphere, with the opposition denouncing numerous intimidations and arrests. Caracas had limited the possibility of observing the voting process.

Despite polls giving the opposition a clear lead and an unprecedented economic crisis, Mr. Maduro, who relies on the military, has always seemed sure of his victory. He had even spoken of a “bloodbath” in the event of the opposition's success.

Venezuela, long one of the richest countries in Latin America, is bled dry: collapse of oil production, GDP reduced by 80% in ten years, poverty, health and education systems totally dilapidated. Seven million Venezuelans have fled their country.

The government accuses the “criminal blockade” of being the cause of all the evils.

The United States had tightened its sanctions in an attempt to oust Mr. Maduro after his already contested re-election in 2018, a vote marred by fraud according to the opposition, which led to demonstrations that were severely repressed.

“They couldn’t beat us with sanctions, aggression, threats!” ” he raged on Sunday, brushing aside reactions from Latin America.

The attitude of the security apparatus, considered one of the pillars of power since the presidency of Hugo Chávez, a former military man, will be decisive.

Tear gas fired against anti-Maduro protesters

Police fired tear gas in Caracas on Monday to disperse demonstrators protesting against the re-election of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, AFP journalists observed.

Equipped with riot gear, police advanced on the stone-throwing demonstrators, firing tear gas grenades, in the Chacao district (central-eastern part of the capital).

Agence France-Presse