CARACAS: Venezuela braced for fresh protests on Saturday after President Nicolas Maduro's disputed election victory was ratified – and a growing number of nations recognized his opposition rival as the real winner.
Both Maduro and the opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado and her presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, have called on their supporters to demonstrate this weekend in the wake of Sunday's controversial vote.
The South American country's CNE election body, which is loyal to Maduro, declared him the winner on Friday with 52 percent of the vote and said Gonzalez Urrutia won 43 percent.
But Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay recognized the opposition Gonzalez Urrutia as the real president-elect, joining the US and Peru in rejecting the official results.
Reacting harshly to criticism of his victory, 61-year-old Maduro described allegations of electoral fraud as a “trap” orchestrated by Washington to justify a “coup”.
He also threatened Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia that they “should be behind bars.”
Maduro has been at the helm of the oil-rich, cash-poor country since 2013, when he presided over an 80 percent drop in GDP that prompted more than seven million of Venezuela's 30 million once-wealthy citizens to emigrate.
Experts blame mismanagement and US sanctions for the collapse.
Gonzalez Urrutia failed to appear at the Supreme Court hearing after Maduro asked the tribunal to investigate and confirm the election result.
But other opposition candidates summoned to the hearing demanded the release of a detailed vote count after Sunday's vote, which was held amid widespread fears the vote would be rigged.
Voting records “are essential for transparency, they are essential for peace,” said Enrique Marquez, who also ran against Maduro as part of a smaller opposition group.
The opposition launched a website this week with copies of 84 percent of the ballots cast, showing that Gonzalez Urrutia won easily. The government says they are fake.
Machado, who was barred from running, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that she was in hiding and “fearing for my life” along with other opposition leaders.
She called on supporters to rally in cities across the country on Saturday to “assert the truth” of the opposition's victory.
“We have the evidence and the world already recognizes it,” Machado wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Maduro called for daily mobilization, on Saturday “the mother of all marches to celebrate the victory of peace”.
He accused the opposition of planning attacks against security forces during their rally.
The NGO Foro Penal reported 11 dead in protests on Monday and Tuesday as angry Venezuelans took to the streets, saying their votes had been stolen. Machado said at least 20 people were killed.
Authorities said more than 1,000 people were arrested in the post-election protests.
This action caused fear among opposition supporters.
“We have people dead, injured, detained, missing… People know that.” They are afraid. They know they will be facing armed people,” said Katiusca Camargo, an activist from the Petare slum in eastern Caracas.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that there was “overwhelming evidence” that Gonzalez Urrutia had won the election.
Blinken spoke to Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia on Friday and expressed “concern for their safety and well-being” and congratulated Gonzalez Urrutia “for getting the most votes,” the State Department said.
In a joint statement, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico called for “impartial verification” of the result and also called on Caracas to release voting data broken down by polling station.
Maduro's previous re-election in 2018 was rejected by dozens of Latin American countries as well as the United States and European Union member states.
It enjoys the loyalty of the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, as well as the support of Russia, China and Cuba.
