Venezuelan opposition leader calls for mass protests over election results

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has urged citizens to participate in mass protests on August 17 to challenge the results of the July 28 presidential election.

Machado accused the National Electoral Council of fraud in statements to the media, claiming that her party’s candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won with 67 percent of the vote.

She vowed to continue the fight against what she described as an authoritarian regime, insisting that the opposition would not allow the election it believes it won to be stolen.

"This coming Saturday, August 17, Venezuelans will unite from all over the world to raise our voices for the truth: on July 28, #VenezuelaWon," she wrote on X. "Let the world see, with the records in hand, that we will not let them steal our victory.”

"We WON, everyone knows it, and we have the records to prove it," said Machado.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council announced on July 29 that President Nicolás Maduro had secured a third term with 51.2 percent of the vote—a result rejected by Gonzalez and Machado.

What happened before?

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has won re-election to a third six-year term with 51.2 percent of votes cast, the electoral council has announced.

Elvis Amoroso, president of the CNE electoral body loyal to the government, told reporters 44.2 percent of the vote had gone to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia who had been leading in polls.

Reacting to the electoral council's announcement, Venezuela's opposition coalition rejected President Maduro's election victory claim, saying it had garnered 70 percent of the vote, not 44 percent as reported by the authority.

The Supreme Court summoned all presidential candidates, but only Maduro appeared, while Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia refused to attend.

The opposition leader, on the other hand, Machado called for greater support from the international community.