President Nicolas Maduro was proclaimed the victor of the contentious July 28 election on Thursday, 22 August 2024, by Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which observers say is supportive of his administration. This was despite opposition allegations of extensive vote fraud.

Judge Caryslia Rodriguez delivered the court’s decision, which declared Maduro the winner and stated that it had “indisputably certified election materials and validates the results of the July 28, 2024 presidential election issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE)”.

Shortly after the decision, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate, posted an image on social media with the caption “void.”

“The people’s sovereignty is not transferable,” he declared.

According to the CNE, Maduro requested the court’s opinion earlier this month about the election, claiming to have defeated Gonzalez Urrutia with 52% of the vote cast. Declaring itself to have been the target of a cyberattack, the CNE declined to offer a precinct analysis of its results. Speaking on Thursday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court stated that there was “evidence of a massive cyber attack against the electoral system.” According to observers, the purported hack is a pretext for withholding the vote results.

Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, received more than two-thirds of the vote, according to the opposition’s tally of polling station-level figures, which it has made public online. The material is “forged,” claimed Maduro’s party. Gonzalez Urrutia stated in a post earlier on Thursday to the Judges of the court: “No decision can prevail over the people’s desire. The nation and the world know about your bias as a result of your inability to resolve this conflict. “Your decision will only worsen the crisis.”

Rodriguez declared earlier this month that the decision of the highest court will be “final.”

In a social media statement on Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council questioned the court’s impartiality. The post cited a UN fact-finding group as saying, “We warn about the lack of independence and impartiality of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) and of the National Electoral Council (CNE), which have played a role in the state’s repressive machinery.”

“The Government exhibited excessive control over TSJ rulings, encompassing direct messages to judges and open statements from President Nicolas Maduro and Diosdado Cabello,” stated panel chair Marta Valinas, referring to a lawmaker who serves as a key ally of the President.

America’s Division Director at Human Rights Watch, Juanita Goebertus, criticized the choice as well. She wrote on social media, “The recent decision of the (Supreme Court) is nothing more than a crude attempt to judicially cover up electoral fraud.”

Gabriel Boric, the President of Chile, on Thursday, 22 August 2024, referred to the ruling as a “consolidation of fraud.” He said on social media, “There is no doubt that we are facing a dictatorship that manipulates elections, oppresses people who think differently, and is indifferent to the world’s largest expatriate community, which is only similar to Syria’s after a war.”

The UN estimates that the number of Venezuelan migrants living in Chile is over 532,000, making it one of the largest groups in Latin America, a claim that Maduro’s government disputes.

Many governments in the area, including Boric’s, disapproved of Maduro’s assertion that he had won the election; as a result, Caracas severed diplomatic ties with Maduro in late July.

Venezuela’s Attorney general declared on Thursday that the death toll from post-election violence has increased to 27. Protests linked to the election have resulted in 2,400 arrests and more than 190 injuries. Venezuela’s parliament, which is headed by supporters of Nicolas Maduro, postponed discussion on a bill condemning “fascism” on Tuesday. The detractors saw this as an attempt to repress opposition parties.

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AFP