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Reuters

Supporters of Venezuela’s political opposition and backers of the ruling party each held rallies on Wednesday to mark the one-month anniversary of July’s disputed presidential election, as arrests of opposition figures continued.
Venezuela’s electoral council and its top court have proclaimed President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, as the winner of the July 28 election, but has not published complete voting tallies.
Venezuela’s opposition has published its own tallies showing a landslide win for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
The disagreement has sparked international calls for the release of full tallies, deadly protests, and moves by authorities to arrest opposition figures and journalists.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told Reuters on Tuesday that peaceful street protests and international pressure still have the potential to unseat Maduro.
Later that day, opposition groups reported at least two arrests of staff, including a lawyer for Machado’s movement.
“Around the world the cry of Venezuelans is being heard,” Machado – the main face of the opposition – told supporters at a lunchtime rally in Caracas, urging them to keep up pressure and “at the same time protect one another, because what the regime has let loose is brutal”.
Shortly after the rally, the opposition coalition said party leader Biagio Pilieri, who appeared alongside Machado, had been arrested.
The last known location of Pilieri, the head of the Convergencia Venezuela party, was outside the Helicoide prison in Caracas, the coalition said on X, adding a screenshot of his mobile phone’s location and saying he had been with his son Jesus, an opposition youth leader.
“Does Venezuela want a civil war? It will be resolved with laws, with justice, with the established order, that is how it has been, that is how it will be,” Maduro said at his own rally.
In the western oil city of Maracaibo, fewer than 100 opposition supporters gathered for a brief protest early on Wednesday, closely watched by police.
Small crowds also gathered in San Cristobal, near the border with Colombia, in the central cities of Barquisimeto and Valencia and in eastern Puerto Ordaz.

Many attendees were older adults, Reuters witnesses said. Gonzalez and Machado, aged 74 and 56, respectively, focused much of their campaign rhetoric on older populations who would like to see migrant children and grandchildren return home.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left in recent years and others have said that they would seek to go too if Maduro’s socialists continued in power.
At a pro-government rally in Caracas, ruling party supporter Andres Guillen said Maduro was the election winner.
“The fascists tried a month ago to destabilise our country but we did it thanks to the strength of the people, the nobility, the humility,” he told state television.
Protests since the vote have led to at least 27 deaths. Human rights group Foro Penal says some 1,780 people are being held as political prisoners, including 114 adolescents.
Gonzalez, who along with Machado, is being investigated for incitement and other crimes by Attorney General Tarek Saab, has ignored two summons to testify about the opposition website where vote tallies have been posted.
Saab told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon he would issue a third summons, which would mark the final opportunity for Gonzalez to appear before Venezuelan law allows an arrest warrant to be issued for him.
“If he misses it, the public ministry will announce a corresponding action,” Saab said.
The electoral council says it has not yet posted detailed tallies of what it says is Maduro’s victory, with just over half of votes, because a cyberattack affected its system.


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Americas and the Caribbean

Rallies and arrests in Venezuela mark a month since disputed presidential election

Maria Corina Machado, centre, leads a protest against the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo: AP

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds up a copy of electoral records in Caracas. Photo: Reuters

Government loyalists hold a poster of the late former president Hugo Chavez in Caracas. Photo: AP

Venezuela opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez ignores summons

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. File photo: AFP

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. File photo: AFP

Police detain protesters demonstrating against the official election results in July. File photo: AP

Venezuelan opposition leader Machado vows protesters will not ‘leave the streets’

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves a Venezuelan flag during a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Thousands of people attend a protest called by the opposition in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. Photo: AFP

People protest against the re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a demonstration in Rome, Italy, on Saturday. The placard reads: ‘Maduro you are a murderous dictator!’ Photo: EPA-EFE

People shout slogans and show voting records during a protest in Caracas on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Copies of the voting machine records are displayed during a protest in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Brazil and Colombia – but not US – favour fresh Venezuela elections

A protester lights candles in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 8 during a vigil for the freedom of political prisoners. Photo: dpa

Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds a virtual press conference with journalists in Argentina and Chile in Caracas on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press in Caracas on August 9. Photo: TNS

People march in Mexico City on August 10 to protest against election results that awarded Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro a third term. Photo: Reuters

Venezuelan leader slams TikTok for ‘wanting civil war’ in his country

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro walks through the Supreme Tribunal of Justice in Caracas on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Demonstrators in Mexico City on Saturday protest against election results that awarded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a third term in office. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Americas

Small protests in support of the opposition take place in various cities as pro-government rally is held in Caracas


Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro took to the streets in an attempt to revive protests against him as he tightens his grip on power following last month’s election.


Venezuela

Protests around the world