(Bloomberg) — Venezuela’s government is accusing the opposition of falsifying election results showing its candidate defeated President Nicolas Maduro and warning of an alleged armed attack planned Saturday near the site of a peaceful protest by banned leader Maria Corina Machado.
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Maduro, speaking to reporters for more than two hours at the presidential palace in Caracas on Friday, again accused Machado and her deputy, Edmundo Gonzalez, of being part of a U.S.-led coup attempt that also involved a cyberattack.
His comments signal his unwavering determination to seek a third presidential term, despite growing international support for opposition claims that Gonzalez won by a wide margin. They could also deter Machado’s supporters from taking to the streets, given the perceived threat of violence.
Earlier on Friday, Venezuela’s electoral authority certified Maduro’s victory and the Supreme Court began hearings on the results, with the Venezuelan government attempting to use regime-controlled institutions to legitimize its position despite allegations 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 won 52%, compared to 43% for Gonzalez, according to the council’s count of 97% of votes cast.
However, Machado says her party has compiled results from witnesses and a network of citizen observers that show Gonzalez, her stand-in candidate, has nearly 70 percent support. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Machado said she is in hiding and “fearing for her life.”
During Maduro’s press conference, his congressional leader Jorge Rodriguez took the stage and showed dozens of examples of what he called falsified voting results published online by the opposition. He claimed they were incomplete, as they lacked, among other things, the signatures of regime-affiliated witnesses.
“This is pure garbage,” Rodríguez said, showing unsigned or incomplete tables. “There is no way an electoral authority can accept this as a record of an electoral event.”
Venezuela’s regime is trying to stamp its self-declared victory with legitimacy, despite fierce international criticism. The US has said it is clear that the opposition won the most votes, a view shared by several countries.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Machado and Gonzalez on Friday and echoed that sentiment, while also expressing concern for the two leaders’ safety. He also “commended the Venezuelan people for their commitment to democracy in the face of significant challenges,” a statement said.
Maduro expelled diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic after their governments cast doubt on his victory. Meanwhile, regional heavyweights Brazil, Mexico and Colombia have declined to take sides until a thorough account of the vote is released.
The Venezuelan president, who has called for Machado and Gonzalez to be jailed for stoking protests, presented what he said were text messages and recorded phone calls related to a grenade attack that reportedly took place early Saturday morning in Bello Monte. The Caracas neighborhood is one kilometer (0.6 miles) from Las Mercedes, where Machado has called for a peaceful demonstration starting at 10 a.m.
Maduro expressed confidence that his security forces would foil the plot. “I warn all of Venezuela of possible attacks carried out by the ‘small commandos’ on Machado’s orders and with Gonzalez’s complicity, using these groups of criminals against themselves,” he said.
The Venezuelan government plans to reopen two renovated maximum-security prisons to house more than 1,200 protesters arrested since Monday and another 1,000 who remain in custody. The regime has also begun deporting journalists, with Venezuela’s union representing media workers saying on Friday that 14 had been expelled from the country.
Maduro has asked the government-controlled Supreme Court to verify the election results. On Friday, he said the government would make official vote results public once they are submitted to the court.
That process began Friday afternoon. All of the candidates except Gonzalez — who said it was still up to the electoral board to certify the vote — attended the initial hearing, where they were told to turn over all the documents requested by the judges. It is unclear how long the judicial review will take.
–With assistance from Jose Orozco.
(Adds Blinken conversation with opposition leaders in 10th paragraph.)
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