Venezuela Election

The inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro left his opponents to grapple with with conflicting feelings of hope and disappointment on Saturday, pondering why the self-described socialist leader could not be stopped despite credible evidence that he had lost the election last year. Some described their mood after Friday's ceremony at the legislative palace in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, like an emotional hangover while others said they feel abandoned. Many expressed cautious optimism, finding a measure of comfort in the social media videos released by two opposition leaders popular former lawmaker Mara Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition's candidate in the vote who had promised to topple Maduro. In the end, it feels as if the soup got cold, college professor Nelson Perez said. We've been on the subject of not losing hope for a while. ... But then you realize it's more of the same. That realization is hard to process for millions of Venezuelans who, l

Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro was sworn in Friday for a new term, extending his increasingly repressive rule in the face of renewed protests and rebukes from the United States and others who believe he stole last year's vote. Venezuela's legislative palace, where he was sworn in and delivered a fiery speech, was heavily guarded by security forces who have become Maduro's main hold on power since last summer's disputed election. Crowds of people, many sporting pro-Maduro T-shirts, gathered in adjacent streets and a nearby plaza. Maduro, likening himself to a biblical David fighting Goliath, accused his opponents and their supporters in the US of trying to turn his inauguration into a world war. He said his enemies' failure to block his inauguration to a third six-year term was a great victory" for Venezuela's peace and national sovereignty. I have not been made president by the government of the United States, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America, he said, aft

Venezuela opposition leader Mara Corina Machado's aides said she was detained Thursday, followed moments later by official denials of her arrest, in a confusing episode that capped a day of protests seeking to block President Nicols Maduro from clinging to power. It remained unclear what exactly happened after Machado bid farewell to hundreds of supporters, hopped on a motorcycle and raced with her security convoy down a main Caracas avenue. At 3:21 pm local time, Machado's press team said in a social media post that security forces violently intercepted her convoy. Her aides later told The Associated Press that she had been detained, and international condemnation poured in from leaders in Latin America and beyond, demanding her release. But about an hour later, a proof-of-life, 20-second video of Machado emerged online in which she says she was followed after leaving the wonderful rally and had dropped her purse. Her aides later claimed in a social media post that the video messag

Fear of repression in Venezuela has escalated in recent days as the inauguration of Maduro's third term approaches on Friday, following last year's contested presidential election, CNN reported

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was arrested Thursday when her motorcycle convoy was fired upon by security forces as it departed an anti-government protest in Caracas, according to aides. Machado emerged from months of hiding earlier Thursday to reappear in public as part of a last-ditch attempt to block President Nicols Maduro from clinging to power. Machado's press team said in a social media post that security forces violently intercepted the convoy as it was leaving eastern Caracas. There were no immediate details on her whereabouts and Maduro's government has yet to comment. They wanted us to fight each other, but Venezuela is united, we are not afraid, Machado shouted to a few hundred protesters from atop a truck in the capital moments before her arrest. The protests are taking place a day before the ruling party-controlled National Assembly is scheduled to swear in Maduro to a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost the presidential ...

After Presidential election, thousands of protesters flooded the streets in cities like the capital Caracas, and the opposition released data it said showed Gonzalez won handily against Maduro

Venezuela's former opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, on Wednesday said he was coerced into signing a letter effectively recognising his defeat in July's presidential election, which electoral authorities claim was won by President Nicolas Maduro. The revelation of the letter is the latest strain to the country's political crisis, which was exacerbated by the disputed election results and Gonzalez's recent departure for exile in Spain. Gonzalez and the Unitary Platform coalition he represented on July 28 claim they defeated Maduro by a wide margin. The document states it was meant to be confidential, but Jorge Rodriguez, head of the National Assembly and Maduro's chief negotiator, presented it during a nationally televised press conference hours after a local news outlet published parts of it. The letter shows Gonzalez as the sender and is addressed to Rodriguez, who signed it as recipient. Rodriguez told reporters Gonzalez signed the letter of his own volition. Gonzalez, ...

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado tried to reassure supporters Monday that her coalition still hopes to gain control of the presidency despite the departure into exile of their candidate Edmundo Gonzlez Urrutia. Machado's group maintains that it has evidence that Gonzlez won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin against Venezuela's authoritarian incumbent president, Nicols Maduro, despite his claim to have won. Machado told an online meeting Monday of opposition leaders, reporters and others that her group still hopes to see Maduro leave office in January, even if for voters those hopes seem increasingly tenuous since Gonzlez's decision to flee into exile to Spain over the weekend. She said the former diplomat could fulfill the role of opposition candidate with much greater protection and security from abroad. She herself has gone into hiding in the weeks since the election, while Maduro's government has arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down o

Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has left the South American country after seeking asylum in Spain, according to a senior Venezuelan official. The surprise departure by the candidate who Venezuela's opposition and several foreign governments consider the legitimate winner of July's presidential race is a serious blow to efforts to unseat President Nicols Maduro and comes just days after the government ordered his arrest. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in a message posted on Instagram that Gonzalez, who has not been seen since the election, had sought refuge in past days at Spain's embassy in Caracas. She said the government decided to grant Gonzlez safe passage out of the country to help restore the country's political peace and tranquility. Neither Gonzalez nor anyone from Venezuela's opposition has yet to comment. Gonzalez, a 75 year old former diplomat, was a last minute stand in when opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was

A Venezuelan judge on Monday issued an arrest warrant for the opposition's former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzlez as part of a criminal investigation into the results of a disputed election. The warrant was issued at the request of authorities who accuse Gonzlez, a former diplomat, of various crimes including conspiracy, falsifying documents and usurpation of powers. The warrant comes just over a month after election officials declared President Nicols Maduro the winner of an election that his opponents say he lost. Authorities sought the warrant after Gonzlez failed to appear three times to answer questions from prosecutors in a criminal investigation stemming from the disputed election results. Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor of the July 28 election, hours after polls closed. They did not show any detailed results to back up their claim as they had offered in previous presidential elections. The lack of transparency has drawn internation

Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro took to the streets Wednesday in an attempt to revive protests against him as he tightens his grip on power following last month's disputed election. The demonstration in the capital, Caracas, comes exactly a month after the fraught July 28 vote in which Maduro was declared the winner despite strong evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzlez won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, which drew international condemnation that the vote lacked transparency. In weeks of on-again, off-again demonstrations, the opposition's rallying cry has been constant but so far ineffective. Opponents have demanded that officials publish results from each polling station that they say would expose Maduro's attempts to steal the election. Voting records kill sentence, is how the opposition billed the latest protest, referring to the thousands of tally sheets it collected and posted online that contradict a recent sentence written by the loyalist Supreme Court

The leaders of Brazil and Colombia on Saturday again called on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro to release voting tallies, days after the country's Supreme Court backed the government's disputed claims that it won elections in July. In a joint statement, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the credibility of the electoral process can only be restored through the transparent publication of disaggregated and verifiable data. The two leaders also warned against repression as the Venezuelan government has jailed thousands and met protests with violence. The governments spoke a day after several other Latin American countries and the U.S. rejected the Venezuelan high court's certification. Many were waiting to see how the two leftist leaders would respond to the court because both are close allies of Maduro and have been working to facilitate talks with both sides. Maduro claims that he won the presidential vote, but so far has refu

Venezuela's opposition leaders are calling on the country's armed forces to abandon their support of President Nicols Maduro and stop repressing demonstrators who have come out in force to dispute the leader's claim he prevailed in last Sunday's election. The armed forces are traditionally the arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela and have been key to Maduro's grip on power ever since he took over the so-called Bolivarian revolution in 2013 from his mentor, the late Hugo Chvez. So far, they've shown no signs of ditching Maduro even in the face of credible evidence presented by the opposition that it trounced the self-proclaimed socialist at the polls by a more than 2-to-1 margin. In a message posted Monday on social media, Edmundo Gonzlez who the U.S. and a half dozen countries have recognized as the victor and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called on rank and file members of the security forces to rethink their loyalty. We appeal to the conscience of the military an

Voices across the globe expressed concern Sunday over the growing number of arrests in Venezuela following last weekend's disputed elections. Pope Francis said Venezuela is "living 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 remarks came hours after Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro announced Saturday that the government has arrested 2,000 opponents. At a rally in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Maduro pledged to detain more people and send them to prison. U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CBS program Face the Nation Sunday that the Biden administration is worried the arrests could spark wider unrest. We are concerned about the prospect of instability, should there continue to be these detentions, Finer said. And in a statement, the leaders of several European countries including France, Spain, Germany and Italy said the rights of all the Venezuela

Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Venezuela's capital Saturday, waving the national flag and singing the national anthem in support of an opposition candidate they believe won the presidential election by a landslide. Authorities have declared President Nicols Maduro the winner of last Sunday's election but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won. Instead, the government arrested hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets in the days after the disputed poll, and the president and his cadres have threatened to also lock up opposition leader, Mara Corina Machado, and her hand-picked presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzlez. On Saturday, supporters chanted and sang as Machado arrived at the rally in Caracas. Machado, who has been barred by Maduro's government from running for office for 15 years, had been in hiding since Tuesday, saying her life and freedom are at risk. Masked assailants ransacked the opposition's headquarters on Friday, taking ...

The lack of options is stranding Venezuelans who live abroad but returned to vote in the July 28 election

Diplomatic efforts are underway to persuade President Nicols Maduro to release vote tallies from Venezuela's presidential election, after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory and amid increasing calls for an independent review of the results, according to officials from Brazil and Mxico. Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with Maduro's administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election and allow impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press Thursday. The officials have told Venezuela's government that showing the data is the only way to dispel any doubt in the results, said the Brazilian official, who asked not be identified because they are not authorized to publicly speak about the diplomatic efforts. A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the three governments have been discussing the issue with ...

Venezuela's President Nicols Maduro said he asked the country's Supreme Court to conduct an audit of the presidential election after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory, drawing swift condemnation by independent observers. Maduro told reporters Wednesday that the ruling party is also ready to show the totality of the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election. I throw myself before justice, he said to reporters outside the Supreme Court's headquarters in Caracas, adding that he is willing to be summoned, questioned, investigated. This is Maduro's first concession to demands for more transparency about the election. However, the Supreme Court is closely aligned with his government; federal officials propose the court's justices and they are ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathisers. The Carter Centre criticised Maduro's audit request, saying the court wouldn't provide an independent review. You have another government institution which

The protests, which the government denounced as an attempted coup, began on Monday after the South American country's electoral authority declared that Maduro had won a third term

In Venezuela, protesters took to streets, waving flags and demanding President Nicolas Maduro acknowledge he lost Sunday's election to an opposition that claimed it clinched a landslide victory