Opposition calls for protests over presidential elections

Venezuela’s opposition party called for protests around the world on August 17 to bolster its claim that it had won the country’s presidential election.

President Nicolás Maduro has been declared the winner by the government-controlled electoral commission, giving him a third consecutive term.

The opposition claims that the real winner was its candidate, Edmundo González, and has asked the commission to publish detailed data on polling stations.

The call has received support from the European Union and the United States, while several other Latin American nations have so far postponed recognizing Maduro as the winner of last month’s elections.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado posted a video on social media saying Venezuelans should “take to the streets” around the world on Saturday, August 17, to support her party’s claim of victory.

“Let us shout together for the world to support our victory and recognize the truth and popular sovereignty,” he said on Sunday.

His party released a data set online shortly after the July 28 election that the party says shows Mr. González won by a wide margin.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was “overwhelming evidence” that Edmundo González had won the most votes.

The Maduro government, however, insists that the result announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which brings together its allies, is the only valid one.

Mr. Maduro he said he will release the vote talliesbut he did not specify when.

He accused the opposition of fabricating false evidence to dispute the election results and said the United States was behind what he described as a farce and an attempted coup.

Mr. González, who replaced Ms. Machado as the opposition candidate after she was banned from running, also called for national and global protests in support of the “truth.”

Both have gone into hiding: Machado wrote in the Wall Street Journal that she feared for her “life” and “liberty.”

The government said Ms. Machado should be arrested.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Venezuela and other Latin American countries after challenging the official results of the elections.

The government says more than 2,000 people have been arrested, some of them on “terrorism” charges.

In recent weeks, some opposition figures have also been arrested.

María Oropeza, campaign coordinator for the opposition coalition Vente Venezuela, live-streamed her detention on Instagram.

In one video, loud bangs could be heard in the background as he told his followers he had done nothing wrong. Officials from Venezuela’s military counterintelligence agency then burst through his door and the video faded to black.

Members of the security forces kidnapped Freddy Superlano and Roland Carreño, both workers of the opposition party Popular Will, and Ricardo Estévez, a technical advisor to the same opposition movement as Ms. Oropeza.

Last week, Mr. González refused to appear before the country’s Supreme Court after it summoned all presidential candidates for a review of the disputed vote.

He later said that if he intervened he would be jeopardizing his freedom and “the will of the Venezuelan people.”

Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which the opposition says is aligned with President Maduro, said Saturday it would continue to evaluate the election outcome and that its ruling would be “final and binding.”