Shops were closed and buses not running in much of Venezuela on Wednesday as tensions over a disputed presidential election and rumours of opposition arrests kept many people at home.
President Nicolas Maduro, who has ruled since 2013, was declared the winner of the weekend vote by the electoral council. But the opposition says its tally of about 90 per cent of votes shows that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez received more than double the support attracted by Mr Maduro.
The US-based Carter Center, which observed the vote, said in a statement late on Tuesday that the election “cannot be considered democratic”. It said the process was flawed throughout and called the electoral authority’s failure to publish disaggregated results a “serious breach”.
The dispute has led to widespread protests that Mr Maduro and his government have denounced as an attempted coup. One NGO says at least 11 protesters have died.
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Mr Maduro has said Mr Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado should be held accountable for protesters’ alleged crimes.
[ Tom Hennigan's analysis: Venezuela's plight likely to deepenOpens in new window ]
Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the Congress for Maduro’s ruling socialists, insisted on Tuesday that both opposition figures should be arrested.
“The bosses [of the protesters] should go to prison,” he told lawmakers.
The government has said two members of the security forces have also died and has invited people to report crimes associated with what it calls “fascist activities” via an app.
Fears were growing among the opposition on Wednesday that police would arrest Mr Gonzalez and Ms Machado, who last appeared in public in Caracas on Tuesday.
Mr Maduro on Wednesday presented a writ to the electoral section of the country’s top court, state television channel VTV reported, without elaborating.
“I alert the world about a cruel and repressive escalation by the regime,” Mr Machado said on X on Wednesday, saying 16 people had been killed and 177 people arbitrarily detained over the last two days.
Opposition members who have sought asylum at the Argentinian ambassador’s residence in Caracas said on social media there were police cars parked outside and the building’s electricity had been cut.
The six have lived at the embassy since March, when warrants were issued for their arrests, part of a series of warrants and arrests directed at the opposition prior to election day.
Brazil has urged Mr Maduro to respect the boundaries of the Argentinian embassy in Caracas, according to a Brazilian official.
Voluntad Popular said its national co-ordinator Freddy Superlano was detained on Tuesday. Attorney general Tarek Saab has not responded to a request for comment on Mr Superlano’s detention.
Ricardo Estevez, a senior official with Mr Machado’s party Vente Venezuela, was also arrested, the party said.
In the capital Caracas many shops were open, though queues were long and some products were low in stock, and there was increased military presence around the presidential palace, according to Reuters witnesses.
Vegetables and other perishables were especially scarce and could take more time, even days, to begin to arrive in shops, retail sector sources said.
But public transport in other cities and towns across Venezuela was operating at reduced volume and many shops either remained closed or planned to shut early.
Bus drivers in Maracay were not working out of fear of being on the roads, they said, while San Cristobal’s bus terminal was open but had no buses to dispatch. The terminal in Barquisimeto was closed.
“I came on bicycle because there’s no public transport,” said supermarket worker Jose Marcano (32), in the central city of Valencia. “There are very few workers in the supermarket and though my work is administrative, I’ll be helping at the checkout.”
State oil company PDVSA said in a statement that stations nationwide would be open but lines in many places were long.
Since Sunday, Reuters witnesses in several cities have seen clashes between security forces and opposition protesters, as well as attacks on protesters by ruling party-aligned motorcycle riders known as collectives.
Maduro supporters, meanwhile, said at a Tuesday march that the election was decided.
Waves of antigovernment protests in 2014, 2017 and 2019 led to hundreds of deaths but failed to dislodge Maduro.
Two opposition sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters that the opposition is focused on pressuring the government to release all the vote tallies. They did not say how they would do that.
Other opposition pathways to power could include a negotiated solution or the hope that the protests will increase foreign pressure on the government. – Reuters
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