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| 2024 Venezuelan protests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the protests against Nicolás Maduro and the aftermath of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election | |||
 Protesters in Caracas fighting against the public forces | |||
| Date | since 28 July 2024 | ||
| Location | Venezuela | ||
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| Methods |
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| Status | Ongoing | ||
| Parties | |||
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| Lead figures | |||
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| Casualties and losses | |||
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The 2024 Venezuelan unrest broke out in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election on 28 July, in response to claims of electoral fraud. The election and unrest occurred in the context of the ongoing Venezuelan crisis.
In the night after the election, the National Electoral Council (CNE) released preliminary results stating Nicolás Maduro Moros won the election with 51.2% of the votes, with leading opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia trailing at 44.2%. On 30 July, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), a body created by the opposition that was in in charge of the opposition's primary elections, released their own results with González in a comfortable lead with 67% of the votes, while Maduro received 30%. Both candidates claimed victory in the elections.
Whilst the bulk of the demonstrations were peaceful and occurred with no incident, there have been reports of widespread violence and rioting, from both pro-government and opposition sources.
Background
Following Elvis Amoroso's statements announcing Nicolás Maduro's victory in the early hours of 29 July, the majority opposition, organized around María Corina Machado and the Democratic Unitary Platform candidate, Edmundo González, denounced electoral fraud. Several countries were skeptical of the results, calling for audits. Maduro was proclaimed president for a third term months before the scheduled change of government, and before publishing the total results of the vote. Machado stated that her party had obtained voter tally sheets that showed González winning in a landslide.
Neither Machado nor González called for protests, but instead asked people to be present at the voting centers until they had records of the votes cast.
Maduro blamed González and Machado for the violence.
Chronology
28 July
On 28 July 2024, the day of the election, Julio Valerio García, a citizen of Táchira, was shot dead by a group of motorcyclists. There were also four injured that day.
The same day, Venezuelans in the Brazilian cities, Pacaraima, Boa Vista, and São Paulo, demonstrated against Maduro. In São Paulo, hundreds of Venezuelan migrants participated in a demonstration in defense of democracy and calling for freedom.
29 July
On 29 July there were cacerolazos (pot banging as a form of protest) from the east to the west and southwest of Caracas. The protests began around noon; in Caracas, demonstrations were reported in Isaías Medina Angarita in Catia, Ruperto Lugo and Ruiz Pineda, as well as on the Caracas-La Guaira highway; in Aragua, they were reported in Cagua; in a sector of the state of Falcón, people also took to the streets. Protests were reported in various popular areas of the capital, especially in several sectors of Petare such as the San Blas or La Dolorita neighborhoods. A strong police presence was also reported in the capital.
All over the country some protesters tore down Maduro campaign posters. Public demonstrations against Venezuela's government were also registered in several foreign cities that have strong Venezuelan diaspora presence.
In Margarita Island, hundreds of civilians occupied 4 de Mayo Avenue in Porlamar, tearing down Maduro's political banners. The Bolivarian National Police and the National Guard approached the site to repress the protesters. The protests continued on La Auyama Avenue, where protesters tried to tear down a statue of Hugo Chávez, being intercepted again by national officials, who fired pellets and tear gas, causing the protesters to respond with stones, sticks and Molotov cocktails.
In Coro, some protesters tore down a statue which depicted the late president Hugo Chávez. The toppling of the statue has become nationwide trend that some social media users reported the toppling of Chavez statues as well as numerous Bolivarian propaganda posters and murals being torn down in numerous other cities and towns. Numerous other statues have been torn down all over the country since.
The Caracas–La Guaira highway was blocked by protesters from the El Limón sector.
Europa Press reported protests in Petare, Altamira, Chacaíto, Bellas Artes, La Vega, El Valle, Catia, and La Candelaria, as well as concentrations on the Petare–Guarenas highway, specifically in the parish of Caucagüita in the Sucre Municipality, Miranda state.
During the 29 July protests, 2 people were killed (including a 15-year-old boy), 7 injured protesters and 3 unconfirmed gunshot related deaths.
Nicolás Maduro blamed the comanditos (civilian opposition groups) for the protests of 29 July, threatening to jail them, and accused the United States of organizing the protests, with no evidence to support his claim. He called for all Chavistas to go out to the streets on the morning of 30 July, in all states and cities of the country, to "defend peace."
Tarek William Saab announced the opening of an investigation against opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, for an alleged "computer attack and sabotage in the presidential elections, attempting to alter the electoral system and the number of votes from North Macedonia."
According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS), 183 protests were recorded in 20 of the 23 states, and in some of them 5 statues of Hugo Chávez were torn down or destroyed.
The Penal Forum issued a report where it counted 6 dead (among them a minor of 15 years of age), 132 wounded, 50 detained in different sectors of the country and three unconfirmed deaths by gunshots.
30 July
In Punto Fijo, protesters set fire to the Carirubana mayor's office and the PSUV regional headquarters at midnight. On the same night, armed militia group Tren del Llano was reported to be involved in a gun fight with the police, military, and the Colectivos in Valle de la Pascua, Guarico state.
The Unitary Platform has called for a people's mobilisation in front of the United Nations Development Programme office in Caracas to defend their election victory and where both Machado and González will address the people. Citizen assemblies were also held in other cities, including Barquisimeto, Valencia, Maracay, San Fernando de Apure, and Los Teques.
On the same day, Maduro announced that he would extend the application VenApp in a counter protest at Miraflores Palace, to enable the anonymous reporting of all those people who are protesting on the streets of the country. According to their statements, in the application that was originally created to report problems with basic services, an option was added to provide the names of those who are protesting against the electoral results announced by the CNE, so they can be placed under arrest. Maduro also taunted González by challenging him to come "from wherever you're hiding" to Miraflores Palace to face him, dubbing him a "coward".
He also blamed the United States government, businessman Elon Musk and the UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, for wanting to "destabilize the country and take over Venezuela."
Machado and González, from the demonstration in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Development Programme in Los Palos Grandes, Caracas, announced to the country that they had recovered and digitalized 80% of the voting ballots. At the end of the call, the Venezuelan National Guard dispersed the attendees with tear gas bombs.
The Maduro government resorted to the use of colectivos to assist state security agencies in the repression against protesters.
Protests continued in different parts of the country. The Venezuelan Armed Forces expressed "absolute loyalty and unconditional support" to Nicolás Maduro, according to the Venezuelan Minister of Defense, general-in-chief and ally of Chavismo, Vladimir Padrino López. Until late at night, clashes with firearms between military, police and colectivos, against civilians and criminal gangs in Petare were reported. By 30 July, a total of 12 people had died and more than 750 were arrested.
31 July
Nicolás Maduro filed an appeal for constitutional protection before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), with the intention of legitimizing the election results in his favor. This action has been strongly criticized by the opposition, amid growing tensions and allegations of electoral fraud by the national and international community. Likewise, the TSJ has been criticized for its lack of independence and its closeness to the Maduro regime.
Through her Twitter account, María Corina Machado expressed that "after the overwhelming and unappealable electoral victory that we Venezuelans achieved on July 28, the regime's response is murder, kidnapping and persecution. I alert the world about the cruel and repressive escalation of the regime, which to date has more than 177 arbitrary arrests, 11 forced disappearances and at least 16 murders in the last 48 hours. These crimes will not go unpunished." "I have told you that we are going all the way and we are going all the way! Now we have a new reason: the sacrifice that you make and have made. I love you all."
Tarek William Saab announced at a press conference that the number of detainees rose to 1,062, calling opposition protesters "terrorists." He also stated the possibility of requesting an arrest warrant against "intellectual authors" in the demonstrations. The attorney general assured that protesters have simulated "punishable acts" during the protests and declared that the wounds are simulated with "ketchup" by the protesters themselves.
1 August
After days of being surrounded by the government forces after the election day, the Brazilian and Argentinian government has decided to safeguard the Argentinian embassy in Caracas which effectively put the embassy under temporary Brazilian custody. The transfer of control also gave Brazil responsibility to safeguard 6 political asylum seekers inside the embassy temporarily.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken intially expressed doubts about the veracity of the results from the CNE and Biden administration officials, speaking anonymously to Reuters, said that Maduro's reported victory lacked credibility. President Biden called President Lula on 30 July to discuss the election; the two leaders agreed to press for transparent vote tallies. On 1 August, Blinken said there was "overwhelming evidence" that González won, but stopped short of recognizing him as president-elect.
2 August
Reactions
The UN International Mission expressed "its deep concern about the violence and allegations of human rights violations reported in the country following Sunday's presidential election."
In the emergency session of Organization of American States, the secretary general Luis Almagro said he would file a report against Maduro to the International Criminal Court, which is investigating Venezuela for crimes against humanity, and ask the ICC to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro for the repression that is being committed after the election.
According to Infobae a "forceful statement following the electoral fraud in Venezuela and the criminalization of protests" was published on 1 August by Amnesty International (AI) together with eleven human rights organizations that "condemned the repressive actions of the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela and demanded that it guarantee the right to protest and full respect for the rights to life, personal integrity and freedom". In addition to AI, the signers of the statement were CIVICUS, Freedom House, International Commission of Jurists, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Washington Office on Latin America, World Organization Against Torture and others. The joint statement mentioned a "disportionate use of force by Venezuelan security forces" and "call on authorities to refrain from criminalizing protest" and "avoid the use of speeches that encourage and incite violence" against protesters. It highlighted "the use of lethal weapons", along with "politically motivated detentions, potentially unlawful killings", restrictions on freedom of the press, and internet shutdowns". The signatories reminded that Article 68 of the Venezuelan Constitution requires the right of demonstrators to be protected, and encouraged the international community to document crimes committed in the post-electoral process to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.
See also
Similar events:
- People Power Revolution (Philippines, 1986)
- Bulldozer Revolution (Yugoslavia, 2000)
- 2019 Bolivian political crisis
References
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Further reading
- "(影) 委內瑞拉全國暴動！ 軍警也加入示威 抗議者佔領首都機場 要軍方推翻馬杜洛". Newtalk新聞 (in Traditional Chinese). 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
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