Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor’s Office announced today that 1,062 people were detained in post-election protests in the country, a day after President Nicolás Maduro announced a reinforcement of military and police patrols.
The number of detainees was announced by Attorney General Tareck William Saab in a statement to the country in which he accused the Venezuelan opposition of using structured organized crime groups for acts of vandalism, using criminal language and simulating punishable acts.
“If the investigations determine that some [of those detained] are not involved, justice will be served and they will be released,” but those responsible “will be deprived of their freedom for many years,” Saab said.
The prosecutor presented several videos showing hooded individuals making death threats and burning public property, alleging that those responsible, after being detained, confessed to having received money to carry out acts of vandalism.
He also alleged that some of the detainees had even faked fatal injuries, using tomato sauce to make it look like blood.
"There will be no impunity (...) despite the fact that the detainees, in tears, asked to be released," he stressed.
Without disclosing the total number of deaths in the country, Saab explained that 77 security force personnel were injured and one of them was murdered, in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, 100 kilometers west of Caracas.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado announced today that 16 people had died during protests against the disputed re-election of President Nicolas Maduro, denouncing the "cruel and repressive escalation of the regime" in Venezuela.
"I warn the world about the cruel and repressive escalation of the regime, which to date has recorded more than 177 arbitrary arrests, 11 forced disappearances and at least 16 murders in the last 48 hours," Machado wrote in X.
On Tuesday, the President of Venezuela announced an increase in military and police patrols, accompanied by mobilizations by Chavismo.
"Starting today and for all the days to come, until we consolidate peace, the order for military and police patrols to be carried out in all Venezuelan cities and (...) the people mobilized in the streets, every day," said Maduro to hundreds of supporters who marched from the populous neighborhood of Petare (east of the capital) to the presidential palace of Miraflores, in the center.
The President of Venezuela said that, starting on July 31, there will be days of mobilization of popular forces to "activate the agenda" he has undertaken and invited Venezuelans to hold, next Saturday, the "mother of all marches" to celebrate the victory in Sunday's presidential elections in Caracas.
Venezuela has been experiencing protests in several regions of the country since Monday against the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
On Monday, the CNE of Venezuela officially proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as President for the period 2025-2031.
According to official data from the CNE, Maduro was re-elected for a third consecutive term with 51.2% of the vote, having obtained 5.15 million votes.
The main opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained just under 4.5 million votes (44.2%), the CNE indicated.
The Venezuelan opposition claims victory in the presidential elections, with 70% of the votes for Gonzalez Urrutia, said opposition leader María Corina Machado, with minutes from the vast majority of polling stations made public to support the claim.
