(Bloomberg) — Venezuela’s government accused the opposition of falsifying election records that show its candidate defeated President Nicolas Maduro and warned of an alleged armed attack planned Saturday near where banned leader Maria Corina Machado has called for a peaceful demonstration.
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Maduro, speaking to reporters Friday at the presidential palace in Caracas for more than two hours, again accused Machado and her stand-in, Edmundo Gonzalez, of being part of a US-led coup attempt that included a cyberattack.
His remarks signal his unwavering determination to begin a third presidential term despite mounting international support for the opposition’s claims that Gonzalez won by a wide margin. They could also deter Machado’s supporters from taking to the streets given the alleged threat of violence.
Earlier Friday, Venezuela’s electoral authority ratified Maduro’s victory and its top court began hearings into the result, as his government sought to use regime-controlled institutions to legitimize its position amid accusations of fraud.
The incumbent socialist defeated his opposition rival by about 1 million votes in the disputed July 28 election, the National Electoral Council announced. Maduro earned 52% compared to 43% for Gonzalez, according to the council’s tabulation of 97% of ballots cast.
Machado, however, says her party has compiled results from witnesses and a network of citizen observers that show Gonzalez, her stand-in candidate, received nearly 70% support. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Machado said she is in hiding and “fearing for my life.”
During Maduro’s news conference, his congressional chief Jorge Rodriguez took the podium and showed dozens of examples of what he said were falsified voting records published by the opposition online. He argued they were incomplete, given they were missing the signatures of regime-aligned witnesses, among other irregularities.
“This is pure trash,” Rodríguez said while showing unsigned or incomplete tabulations. “There is no way that any electoral power can accept this as a record of an electoral event.”
Venezuela’s regime is trying to put a stamp of legitimacy on its self-declared victory in the face of stiff international criticism. The US has said it’s clear the opposition won the most votes, a position shared by several countries.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Machado and Gonzalez on Friday and reiterated that view as well as expressing concern for the two leaders’ safety. He also “applauded the Venezuelan people for their dedication to democracy in the face of significant challenges,” according to a statement.
Maduro expelled diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic after their governments cast doubt on his victory. Regional heavyweights Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, meanwhile, are refraining from taking sides until a thorough accounting of the vote is released.
The Venezuelan president, who has called for Machado and Gonzalez to be jailed for fomenting protest, presented what he said were text messages and recorded phone calls related to a grenade attack that would take place in Bello Monte on Saturday morning. The Caracas neighborhood is one over from Las Mercedes, where Machado has called for a peaceful demonstration beginning at 10 a.m.
Maduro expressed confidence that his security forces would foil the plot. “I alert all of Venezuela of possible attacks carried out by the ‘small commands’ on the orders of Machado and with the complicity of Gonzalez, using these groups of criminals against themselves,” he said.
Venezuela’s government is planning to reopen two renovated maximum-security prisons to take in more than 1,200 protesters who have been arrested since Monday and another 1,000 who are still to be detained. The regime has also started deporting journalists, with the Venezuelan union representing media workers saying Friday that 14 had been expelled from the country.
Maduro has asked the government-controlled Supreme Tribunal of Justice to audit the election results, and said Friday the government would publish the official voting records when it delivers them to the court.
Those proceedings began Friday afternoon. All of the candidates except Gonzalez — who said it remains the electoral council’s job to certify the vote — attended the initial hearing, where they were told they should hand over all of the documents requested by the judges. It remains unclear how long the judicial review will take.
–With assistance from Jose Orozco.
(Adds Blinken call with opposition leaders in 10th paragraph.)
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