Maduro Attempts To Crush The Opposition

A Campaign of Terror Venezuela Venezuela’s attorney general on Monday launched an investigation into opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzáles and opposition leader María Corina Machado, accusing them of inciting the armed forces to disobey the government, after the pair called on them to halt actions against protesters demonstrating against President Nicolás Maduro’s attempt to remain in office via electoral fraud, the Associated Press reported. Top prosecutor Tarek William Saab, a close Maduro ally, based his decision on an open letter shared by the two opposition politicians hours earlier, asking the military and the police to stand “on the side of the people.” Saab also accused Machado and Gonzáles of undermining the election process by announcing a different election winner “than the one proclaimed by the National Electoral Council, the only body qualified to do so.” The probe will look into alleged crimes of usurpation of functions, spreading false information, and incitement to insurrection, among other charges. The letter came after a week of deadly clashes between security forces and demonstrators following a ruling by the electoral body, also made up of Maduro loyalists, declaring the incumbent had won the July 28 presidential election. Machado and her allies released their own voting tallies, which showed that Gonzáles had dealt Maduro a knockout blow – a claim later confirmed by the Washington Post, which estimated that the opposition candidate had “likely received more than twice as many votes” as the president. “It was an electoral avalanche,” Machado and Gonzáles wrote, calling on the police and the military to stop their support for Maduro. Around two dozen people were killed in the crackdown on protests over the past week. The opposition did not react to Saad’s accusations and probe, CNN noted. Machado and Gonzáles have gone into hiding, fearing that they’ll be arrested or killed. The United States and the European Union have called the elections fraudulent and pleaded for calm. “We are calling on the authorities to stop this, this campaign of intimidation of the opposition and judicial intimidation,” said the EU, which earlier refused to recognize the electoral body’s results. Share this story