The US-based Carter Centre expressed concerns over the validity of incumbent president Nicolas Maduro's apparent win.
ADVERTISEMENTUS organisation The Carter Centre, which works to advance democracy and human rights, has announced it was unable to verify the results of Venezuela's controversial presidential election.
The body blamed authorities for a “complete lack of transparency” in declaring Nicolas Maduro the winner without providing any individual polling tallies.
The statement given on Tuesday night by the Atlanta-based group is perhaps the harshest rebuke yet of Venezuela's chaotic election process - not least because it comes from one of just a handful of outside groups invited by the Maduro government to observe the vote.
“The electoral authority’s failure to announce disaggregated results by polling station constitutes a serious breach of electoral principles,” the Carter Centre said. The group, which had a technical mission of 17 experts spread out in four cities across Venezuela, added that the election did not meet international standards and “cannot be considered democratic.”
The Carter Centre's harsh criticism capped a second long day of protests against the results by opponents of Maduro who said their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, trounced the incumbent by a more than two-to-one margin.
Maduro's government hasn't taken lightly to the criticism and ratcheted up their attacks on their opponents on Tuesday, with some allies suggesting the opposition's most influential leader and a presidential candidate be arrested.
A day after Maduro was declared the winner by a National Electoral Council that is loyal to him and the ruling party, the attacks followed the opposition’s surprise release of detailed voting data that it said shows that Edmundo González won by a landslide.
The electoral council has not released any results from the polling centre level, which come from tally sheets that the more than 30,000 electronic voting machines print after polls close.
It is not obligated to do so, but in previous elections, it has posted the figures online within hours.
United States President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke by phone and agreed that Venezuela must release the data, saying the election's outcome “represents a critical moment for democracy in the hemisphere,” according to a White House summary of the call.
Biden and Lula da Silva “agreed on the need for immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level by the Venezuelan electoral authorities,” it added.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into free fall after Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.
As both sides defended their claim to victory, thousands of their supporters took to the streets of the capital, Caracas.
A huge crowd of opposition supporters gathered outside the United Nations offices. Opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado, standing atop a truck, called on the National Electoral Council to release the tally sheets, saying, “Why don’t they publish them?”
ADVERTISEMENTMachado said the main opposition coalition has obtained more than 84% of the tally sheets, which show González garnered more than twice as many votes as Maduro.
“The only thing we are willing to negotiate is the peaceful transition,” Machado said, as the crowd chanted: “We have no fear!”
Opposition supporters elsewhere in the city were met with tear gas Tuesday.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab told reporters that more than 700 protesters were arrested in nationwide demonstrations Monday. He added that one officer was killed.
ADVERTISEMENTMachado and González both urged their supporters to remain calm and avoid violence.
Nevertheless, long lines of residents started to build Tuesday outside supermarkets and other stores in Caracas in apparent anticipation of a prolonged period of demonstrations that could lead to food shortages.
United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed alarm over the post-election climate.
“Hundreds of people have been arrested, including children. This troubles me deeply,” he said in a statement. “I am alarmed by reports of disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials along with violence by armed individuals supporting the Government.”
ADVERTISEMENTIn the port city of La Guaira, people toppled a statue of Maduro’s mentor and predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez, dragged it to the street and set it on fire during Monday’s protests. Maduro unveiled the statue in 2017 and by Tuesday all that remained was its base, littered with twisted rebar and broken cement.
The election was among the most peaceful in recent memory, reflecting hopes that Venezuela could avoid bloodshed and end 25 years of single-party rule. The winner would take control of an economy recovering from collapse and a population desperate for change.