Public Backlash Over Venezuela’s Election Reaches A Fever Pitch

The South American nation has been beset by economic upheaval and social unrest for years, and Sunday’s election sparked a whole new level of outrage.

Voters make demands

Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro isn’t the only one who claimed victory after Sunday’s election. His primary rival, Edmundo Gonzalez, also issued a statement insisting that he was the rightful winner.

Amid destructive and violent protests in the streets, Maduro said he’d release the records he claims would prove he’s entitled to another term.

But even that supposed show of transparency is falling flat among his critics, particularly since he’s calling on the nation’s Supreme Court (which is known to be quite sympathetic to his cause) to conduct an audit of the election results.

Breaking down the numbers

As of the most recent updates available, the official results show that Maduro has received just over half of the votes. But those aligned with Gonzalez say he is the true winner, citing exit polls and other sources that show he ended up with about two-thirds of the vote.

Either way, as of this writing, vote counts at the precinct level have not yet been made public.

An international incident

The backlash across Venezuela can be seen everywhere, particularly as Maduro has called for the arrest of his rivals, whom he has described as “fascists.”

But the controversy isn’t confined by the boundaries of one nation. Costa Rica became involved by offering Gonzalez and other opposition leaders asylum as their freedom and potentially their safety are at risk.

And Peru went so far as to officially declare Gonzalez the winner of the election, resulting in the Maduro regime cut diplomatic ties between the nations.

U.S. President Joe Biden is among the world leaders calling on Venezuela to release detailed election results.

Chris Agee August 1st, 2024

Share this story: