Corina Machado and Edmundo González have not challenged the electoral process before legal authorities

AFP and Reuters

The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, August 18, 2024, p. 23

Caracas. Chavismo and the opposition of Venezuela held marches yesterday in Caracas and other cities, almost three weeks before the presidential election in which President Nicolás Maduro was re-elected for a new term, while his opponents denounce fraud in the elections of July 28.

Let no one poke their nose into Venezuelademanded the head of state, adding that he will not hand over political power to the fascist oligarchy.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado warned: We are not going to leave the streets!as she was the one who led the protest of her supporters yesterday.

At a rally he presided over yesterday afternoon, Maduro said: We have earned the right to build the future as we please in Venezuela, and no one should poke their nose into Venezuela. I am not going to give advice to anyone in the world on what to do with a certain country. Everyone will know how to manage their own country.; He also recalled that last week the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ordered the verification of the election results.

Thousands of supporters gathered in the heart of Caracas in the afternoon in support of the Venezuelan president. A caravan with dozens of motorcyclists set off from the populous Petare neighborhood toward the Miraflores palace headquarters in the center, carrying red flags and posters with images of Maduro and Commander Hugo Chavez, as well as the logo of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. The state channel VTV showed contingents of support in other cities.

Those things about the minutes are pure lies from them. There is no evidence.said Carmen Bolívar, a 63-year-old seamstress, regarding the opposition’s demand to present the voting records.

During his speech, the Chavista president also denounced that opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia is planning to flee the country, the local newspaper reported. The Universal.

The president asked: Where is the filthy one, where is Edmundo González Urrutia hiding, why doesn’t he show his face; didn’t he win?. Maybe he won a raffle to hide in a cave and is preparing his escape from Venezuela, he takes the money and goes to Miami, coward, where are you hiding?he continued.

The sayona deflated, failed, they don’t want her even in the oppositionhe added, referring to opposition member María Corina Machado, whom he accuses of being behind an attempted coup d’état.

In a hundred cities

For Maduro, the government’s mobilizations were immense in more than 100 cities in the country.”

The National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro’s victory for his third term in the elections, with almost 52 percent of the votes in his favor, but has not yet released the detailed voting, arguing that the automated system was the target of a cyber terrorist attackand its website has been down since the early hours of July 29.

Maduro denounced that Venezuela suffers attacks brutal from “farms of bots from Spain, Mexico and Argentina”, against the country’s websites, such as that of the program of the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, on the YouTube platform.

▲ In the image above, pro-government supporters at their demonstration in Caracas. In the middle, Nicolás Maduro and opposition member Corina Machado, at their respective rallies. Above, the mobilization called by the opposition in Miami, United States.Photo Ap and Afp

I can say, with absolute certainty, we won again because peace triumphed.said the Chavista, who promised for his next term (2025-2031) confront mafias and corrupt people and change the system of government.

Meanwhile, the opposition march, which also brought together thousands of people, was led by the leader of the Vente Venezuela movement, María Corina Machado; the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzáles Urrutia did not participate and has not appeared in public since July 30, since, like Machado, the authorities opened a criminal investigation against him for incitement to rebellionamong other charges. However, in a video posted on social media, González stated that the street protests They are a force that will enforce the decision to change.

The opposition, backed by the United States and several governments in the region and Europe, claims victory for its candidate and describes – without proof – Maduro’s re-election as fraudulent.

Machado arrived on a motorcycle and wearing a hood that he took off when he got onto the truck that served as a platform.

Freedom!, Brave!his followers shouted as he passed, with flags and printed copies of their electoral recordsThe event took place without incident.

Today we are stronger than everMachado told the crowd. “The voice of the people is respected.

May the world and everyone in Venezuela recognize that the president-elect is Edmundo González Urrutia,” opposition candidate in the July 28 elections.

We are not going to leave the streets!Machado warned. With intelligence, with prudence, with resilience, with audacity and peacefully, because violence suits them (…). Peaceful protest is our right..

Machado claims to have copies of more than 80 percent of the minutes that prove her candidate’s victory and refute the official result of almost 52 percent of the votes that the CNE claims were for Maduro. However, the opposition has not challenged the results before the TSJ, which would be the legal route to follow contemplated by Venezuelan electoral law.

For its part, the Venezuelan government claims that the opposition’s records are fraudulent.

At the end of the event, the truck that was used as a platform was confiscated by the national police, the opposition reported. The authorities did not comment on the matter.

In Maracay, around 100 people were dispersed with tear gas as they gathered. The protests spread to the Venezuelan cities of Maracaibo, Valencia, San Cristóbal and Barquisimeto.

The protests by Venezuelan opposition members were replicated in more than 300 cities around the world, from Colombia to Australia, via the United States and Europe.