Joe McConnell
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has signed a decree blocking access to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, for 10 days following a public dispute with owner Elon Musk.
The two men have traded barbs since Maduro was declared the winner of last month’s disputed presidential election.
Mr Musk described the Venezuelan leader as a “dictator” and a “clown”, while Mr Maduro accused Mr Musk of inciting “hatred, fascism, [and] civil war”.
Anti-government protests have taken place in recent weeks over the election results and hundreds of people have been arrested by Venezuelan security forces.
The vote, held on July 28, has been called “undemocratic” by independent observers, and the main opposition said it had evidence that its candidate, Edmundo González, had won by a wide margin.
Mr Maduro has claimed that the country’s electoral authority, the National Electoral Council (CNE), was subjected to a “cyber coup” during the election and accused Mr Musk of staging an “attack” on his re-election bid.
The Carter Center, which observed the election at the invitation of the Venezuelan government, said it found “no evidence” of any cyberattack.
In a speech broadcast on state television on Thursday night, Maduro said X would be “withdrawn from circulation” by the state agency responsible for telecommunications.
“Elon Musk owns X and has broken all the rules,” he said.
“He violated the rules by inciting hatred, fascism, civil war, death, confrontation between Venezuelans and he violated all Venezuelan laws.”
In posts on X ahead of the presidential election, Musk expressed support for the main opposition, saying, “It’s time for the Venezuelan people to have a chance at a better future.”
After the results, he claimed that there had been “serious electoral fraud by Maduro” and wrote: “Shame on the dictator Maduro.”
He also compared Mr Maduro’s intelligence to that of a donkey and said that “the Venezuelan people have had enough of this clown.”
The CNE declared Maduro the winner of the election, but has not yet released the official vote count.
Opposition calls for the data to be released have been echoed by the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.
The governments of the United States, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador have all recognized Mr. González as the winner of the vote.
In its assessment, the Carter Center said the election “failed to meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic.”
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has summoned representatives of all parties and candidates to submit their vote tallies by Friday.
Mr. Maduro said he would be in court on Friday, but Mr. González said attending the hearing would make him “totally vulnerable due to impotence and violation of due process.”
“I [would] “I am putting at risk not only my freedom but, more importantly, the will of the Venezuelan people,” he said.
