The Office of Venezuela’s Attorney General, which is loyal to the socialist regime, announced on Monday evening that it has opened a criminal probe against opposition leader María Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González.
The criminal investigation is allegedly in response to a letter that both published on Monday calling for the Venezuelan military to stop repressing protesters.
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Machado and González’s letter also called for the military to “respect the results” of the July 28 sham presidential election, which the opposition claims to have won, citing vote tallies obtained from local voting centers nationwide. The socialist regime declared dictator Nicolás Maduro the winner of the election on July 29 but has not published any vote information to corroborate its claim.
The letter, dated August 5, was signed and published by both Machado and González on their respective social media accounts. González signed the document as the “President-elect of Venezuela.”
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, left, and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez hold up vote tally sheets from the top of a truck during a protest against the official presidential election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 30, 2024, two days after the election. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
In the letter, both state that González obtained 67 percent of the votes against Maduro’s 30 percent in the election and that González’s victory has been recognized “from the humblest citizen, witness, [electoral] board member, officers of the Armed Forces, police, to international organizations and governments.”
“However, Maduro refuses to recognize that he was defeated by the entire country and, in the face of the legitimate protest, has launched a brutal offensive against democratic leaders,” the letter continued, “witnesses, voting table members and even against the common citizen, with the absurd purpose of trying to hide the truth and, at the same time, to try to corner the winners.”
Both opposition leaders made a “call on the conscience” of the Venezuelan military and police to “stand with the people and their own families” against the Maduro regime’s violations of human rights committed against dissidents protesting his “victory.” They also urged the Armed Forces to stop taking regime orders to “beat, torture, and also murder, under cover of the evil power they represent.”
A woman holds a banner reading ‘Fuera’ in Spanish as Venezuelan expatriates protest the re-election of Nicolas Maduro in Santiago, Chile on August 03, 2024. Following the elections, which were widely criticized as fraudulent, Venezuelans took to the streets in cities around the world to express their rejection of the current president’s regime. (Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“You can and must stop these actions immediately,” the letter read.
“We urge you to prevent the rampage of the regime against the people and to respect and enforce respect for the results of the July 28 elections,” the letter continued. “Maduro has staged a coup d’état that contravenes the entire constitutional order and he wants to make you his accomplices.”
The letter concluded by urging the government to respect the will of the Venezuelan people and “immediately proceed” with the proclamation of Edmundo González as President-elect of Venezuela.
The Maduro regime’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab responded to the letter hours later by accusing both Machado and González of “falsely announcing” a winner of the sham presidential election different from the one proclaimed by the Venezuelan electoral authorities, who are “the only body qualified to do so.”
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds a national flag while waving to supporters as she arrives for a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Saab also accused the pair of an alleged “open incitement” to police and military officials to “disobey the laws.”
The Venezuelan attorney general announced that a criminal probe will be opened against both Machado and González for “the alleged commission of the crimes of Usurpation of Functions, Dissemination of False Information to Cause Unrest, Incitement to Disobey the Law, Incitement to Insurrection, Criminal Association and Conspiracy.”
El Ministerio Público de la República Bolivariana de #Venezuela ante el írrito comunicado difundido por Edmundo González y María Machado: #informa la apertura de una #Investigación Penal a fin de determinar su responsabilidad ante la presunta comisión de múltiples delitos #aquí… pic.twitter.com/229YZWFMkM
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) August 5, 2024
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the holder of the criminal action, in its duty to be the guarantor of peace and stability in the country, will remain vigilant against any act that implies the generation of violence or anxiety in the population,” the statement concluded, “and that intends the repetition of events that have left painful wounds in the entire Venezuelan family.”
Neither Machado nor González have publicly commented on the opening of a criminal probe against them at press time.
While Maduro was proclaimed the “winner” of the sham election after allegedly obtaining 51 percent of the votes, the Venezuelan electoral authorities have refused to publish vote tally results that can corroborate the claim. The Venezuelan opposition said that it was able to obtain roughly 80 percent of the vote tallies collected from voting stations on July 28 that can demonstrate that Maduro is attempting to steal the election. Digital copies of the tallies have been published by the Venezuelan opposition online.
Several regional leaders have rejected Maduro’s claimed “victory.” Argentine President Javier Milei and Chile’s far-left President Gabriel Boric both accused Maduro of committing electoral fraud. Boric denounced the opening of a criminal probe against Machado and González on social media.
Ahora el Régimen de Maduro anuncia persecución penal contra González y Machado, mientras reprimen a su propio pueblo que exige se respete su voluntad expresada democráticamente. Abogamos por el respeto a los derechos humanos de manifestantes y de los dirigentes de la oposición.
— Gabriel Boric Font (@GabrielBoric) August 5, 2024
“Now the Maduro regime announces criminal prosecution against Gonzalez and Machado, while repressing their own people who demand respect for their democratically expressed will,” Boric’s message read. “We advocate respect for the human rights of protesters and opposition leaders.”
Maduro has responded to the international questioning of his sham “victory” by breaking ties with seven Latin American countries, banishing their diplomatic personnel from Venezuelan territory. The Maduro regime responded to the protests by launching a brutal persecution campaign against dissidents that has so far resulted in 23 confirmed deaths and the arrest of over 2,000 individuals according to Maduro. The dictator recently announced that the arrested dissidents will be sent to “re-education camps” the socialist regime is slated to finish preparing in the following days.
Last week. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a press statement that there is “overwhelming evidence” that González was the winner of the sham election. On Sunday, the European Union announced that the tallies published by the opposition indicate that González “would appear to be the winner of the Presidential elections by a significant majority.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.