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The leader of Venezuela’s political opposition joined protests Saturday in Caracas, blasting socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s “repression” of his people amid a mounting belief in Venezuela and around the world that he stole last week’s presidential election.
Maria Corina Machado, the political opposition leader who has been in hiding for most of the past week, joined demonstrators in the Venezuelan capital who believe that former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez, not Mr. Maduro, rightfully won the election. Ms. Machado and her opposition party strongly backed Mr. Gonzalez in the contest.
Ms. Machado’s appearance before an enthusiastic crowd suggests that protesters aren’t giving up the fight, despite what looks to be an increasingly heavy-handed response from Mr. Maduro and his socialist government.
“After six days of brutal repression, they thought they were going to silence us, intimidate or paralyze us,” Ms. Machado told the crowd. “The presence of every one of you here today represents the best of Venezuela.”
“We have overcome all the barriers. We have knocked them all down,” she said. “Never has the regime been so weak.”
Her appearance at the Caracas rally came just a day after unidentified men reportedly ransacked the political opposition’s main offices. It was the latest in what many believe is an effort by Mr. Maduro and his allies to use brute force to remain in control.
The head of the nation’s military has also pledged support for Mr. Maduro, the political protege of the late Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, and has characterized efforts to push Mr. Maduro out as a “coup.”
At his own rally Saturday, Mr. Maduro threatened to jail his political opponents but also seemed to give a brief nod to political unity, perhaps hoping to stem the tide of rising demonstrations against him.
“There is room in Venezuela for everyone,” he said.
But Ms. Machado, Mr. Gonzalez and other regime critics say that Mr. Maduro has disregarded the will of Venezuelan voters and has essentially produced fake election results that show him to be the winner of last Sunday’s contest.
The government says that Mr. Maduro received more than 50% of the vote, compared to about 44% for Mr. Gonzalez. However, the government has not produced physical vote tally sheets to confirm those numbers.
An Associated Press evaluation of voting sheets found that Mr. Gonzalez received 6.89 million votes, nearly half a million more than the government says Mr. Maduro won. The tabulations show Mr. Maduro received just 3.13 million votes.
That’s a massive discrepancy from the official government figures, and that discrepancy is what has led the Biden administration and other governments around the world to reject the official results.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement late last week that the U.S. is formally recognizing Mr. Gonzalez as the election winner.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” Mr. Blinken said.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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