{"id":8729,"date":"2024-07-29T10:13:25","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T14:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8729"},"modified":"2024-07-29T10:13:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T14:13:25","slug":"venezuelas-capital-is-eerily-calm-after-vote-in-which-maduro-and-opposition-both-claimed-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8729","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela\u2019s Capital Is Eerily Calm After Vote in Which Maduro and Opposition Both Claimed Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
A man crosses an avenue in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 29, 2024, the day after the presidential election. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An eerie calm enveloped Venezuela\u2019s capital early Monday, a day after the country\u2019s opposition and entrenched incumbent Nicol\u00e1s Maduro both claimed victory in the presidential election<\/a><\/span>, setting up a high-stakes standoff.<\/p>\n

Several foreign governments, including the U.S. and European Union, held off recognizing the results of Sunday\u2019s election, as officials delayed the release of detailed vote tallies after proclaiming Maduro<\/a><\/span> the winner with 51%, to 44% for retired diplomat Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/p>\n

\u201cVenezuelans and the entire world know what happened,\u201d said Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a><\/span>. While the opposition vowed it would defend its votes, Gonz\u00e1lez and his allies asked supporters to remain calm for now and called on the government to avoid stoking conflict.<\/p>\n

Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Normally bustling western Caracas awoke as if it was a holiday, with several businesses shuttered, bus stops empty and traffic nonexistent. A few hours earlier, around midnight, a mix of anger, tears and loud pot banging greeted the announcement of results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council.<\/p>\n

Eating a breakfast on a bench next to an unopened business, 28-year-old Deyvid Cadenas said he felt cheated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority voted for the opposition,\u201d said Cadenas, who cast a ballot in a presidential election for the first time Sunday. \u201cI don\u2019t believe yesterday\u2019s results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voters line up outside a polling station during the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Cristian Hernandez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The opposition, after failing to oust Maduro during three rounds of demonstrations since 2014, put its faith in the ballot box. The elections were among the most peaceful in recent memory, reflecting the hopes of many that that it could avoid bloodshed and end 25 years of single-party rule.<\/p>\n

Venezuela sits atop the world\u2019s largest oil reserves and once boasted Latin America\u2019s most advanced economy. But after Maduro took the helm it entered into a free fall marked by plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages of basic goods and 130,000% hyperinflation. U.S. oil sanctions<\/a><\/span> seeking to force Maduro from power after his 2018 reelection \u2014 which dozens of countries condemned as illegitimate \u2014 only accelerated an exodus of some 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled their crisis-stricken nation.<\/p>\n

The opposition\u2019s call for calm is partly a reflection of protest fatigue among voters, who polls show are in no rush to upend their lives by taking to the streets as they have previously.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, right, and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez hold a press conference after electoral authorities declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Voters lined up before dawn to cast ballots Sunday<\/a><\/span>, boosting the opposition\u2019s hopes it was about to break Maduro\u2019s grip on power.<\/p>\n

The official results came as a shock to many who had celebrated, online and outside a few voting centers, what they believed was a landslide victory for Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy,\u201d said Merling Fern\u00e1ndez, a 31-year-old bank employee, as a representative for the opposition campaign walked out of one voting center in a working class neighborhood of Caracas to announce results showing Gonz\u00e1lez more than doubled Maduro\u2019s vote count. Dozens standing nearby erupted in an impromptu rendition of the national anthem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the path toward a new Venezuela,\u201d added Fern\u00e1ndez, holding back tears. \u201cWe are all tired of this yoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel Boric, the leftist leader of Chile, called the results \u201cdifficult to believe,\u201d while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had \u201cserious concerns\u201d that they didn\u2019t reflect the voting \u2014 or the will of the people.<\/p>\n

Government supporters, left, face off with opposition backers outside a voting center during the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado<\/a><\/span> said the margin of Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s victory was \u201coverwhelming,\u201d based on voting tallies the campaign received from representatives stationed at about 40% of ballot boxes.<\/p>\n

Authorities delayed releasing the results from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, promising only to do so in the \u201ccoming hours,\u201d hampering attempts to verify the results.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez was the unlikeliest of opposition standard bearers. The 74-year-old was unknown until he was tapped in April as a last-minute stand in for opposition powerhouse Machado, who was blocked by the Maduro-controlled supreme court from running for any office for 15 years.<\/p>\n

The delay in announcing a winner \u2014 which came six hours after polls were supposed to close \u2014 indicated a deep debate inside the government about how to proceed after Maduro\u2019s opponents came out early in the evening all but claiming victory.<\/p>\n

After finally claiming to have won, Maduro accused unidentified foreign enemies of trying to hack the voting system.<\/p>\n

President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters gathered outside the Miraflores presidential palace after electoral authorities declared him the winner of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is not the first time that they have tried to violate the peace of the republic,\u201d he said to a few hundred supporters at the presidential palace. He provided no evidence to back the claim but promised \u201cjustice\u201d for those who try to stir violence in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Authorities set Sunday\u2019s election to coincide with what would have been the 70th birthday of former President Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, the revered leftist firebrand who died of cancer in 2013, leaving his Bolivarian revolution in the hands of Maduro. But Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela are more unpopular than ever among many voters who blame his policies for crushing wages, spurring hunger, crippling the oil industry and separating families<\/a><\/span> due to migration.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s pitch this election was one of economic security, which he tried to sell with stories of entrepreneurship and references to a stable currency exchange and lower inflation rates. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the economy will grow 4% this year \u2014 one of the fastest in Latin America \u2014 after having shrunk 71% from 2012 to 2020.<\/p>\n

But most Venezuelans have not seen any improvement in their quality of life. Many earn under $200 a month, which means families struggle to afford essential items. Some work second and third jobs<\/a><\/span>. A basket of basic staples \u2014 sufficient to feed a family of four for a month \u2014 costs an estimated $385.<\/p>\n

The opposition managed to line up<\/a><\/span> behind a single candidate after years of intraparty divisions and election boycotts that torpedoed their ambitions to topple the ruling party.<\/p>\n

Machado was blocked by the Maduro-controlled supreme court from running for any office for 15 years. A former lawmaker, she swept the opposition\u2019s October primary with over 90% of the vote. After she was blocked from joining the presidential race, she chose a college professor as her substitute on the ballot, but the National Electoral Council also barred her from registering. That\u2019s when Gonz\u00e1lez, a political newcomer, was chosen.<\/p>\n

The opposition has tried to seize on the huge inequalities arising from the crisis, during which Venezuelans abandoned their country\u2019s currency, the bolivar, for the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez and Machado focused much of their campaigning on Venezuela\u2019s vast hinterland, where the economic activity seen in Caracas in recent years didn\u2019t materialize. They promised a government that would create sufficient jobs to attract Venezuelans living abroad to return home<\/a><\/span> and reunite with their families.<\/p>\n

Drones depict the image of President Nicolas Maduro over Miraflores presidential palace after electoral authorities declared him the winner of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Cristian Hernandez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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– Joshua Goodman and Regina Garcia Cano, AP News<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An eerie calm enveloped Venezuela\u2019s capital early Monday, a day after the country\u2019s opposition and entrenched incumbent Nicol\u00e1s Maduro both claimed victory in the presidential election, setting up a high-stakes standoff. Several foreign governments, including the U.S. and European Union, held off recognizing the results of Sunday\u2019s election, as officials delayed the release of detailed vote…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":8731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/8e84617\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4518x3012+0+0\/resize\/2400x1600!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F%5B1%2F22%2F%2C%20-59%2C%20-111%2C%20-101%2C%20-115%2C%2029%2C%2013%2C%20-22%2C%20-44%2C%20-68%2C%2090%2C%2055%2C%20102%2C%20-56%2C%2030%2C%2087%2C%20-97%2C%2041%2C%20-91%2C%2015%2C%2023%2C%20-67%2C%20-69%2C%20-79%2C%20-1%2C%2076%2C%2097%2C%20-59%5D%2F38c25a98a261477e82c3ff8e8485a325","fifu_image_alt":"Venezuela\u2019s Capital Is Eerily Calm After Vote in Which Maduro and Opposition Both Claimed Victory","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity-governance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8732,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions\/8732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}