Maduro orders mass arrests of ‘terrorists’ who dispute his victory

Human rights groups have denounced mass arrests on a scale “never seen before” in Venezuela after the country’s disputed election result. President Maduro has remained unapologetic, describing all those detained as “terrorists”.
On Thursday last week, amid a worsening climate of fear in the country, an opposition leader broadcast live on Instagram as state security agents broke into her home in Portuguesa state, western Venezuela, and took her away. María Oropeza, a lawyer, was heard saying “I’m simply another citizen that wants the country to change”, before the screen went blank.
The mother of another detainee, Edni López, a women’s rights activist and university teacher, has made a tearful appeal for her release after López was taken away shortly after checking in for a flight at Caracas airport. “Give me back my daughter, it’s not fair that a Venezuelan mother has to go through this,” Ninoska Barrios said. She said her daughter was on the way to a holiday in Argentina when she was stopped.
It has also been reported that Carlos Chancellor, an opposition politician, and former mayor in Bolívar state, southeastern Venezuela, has been arrested. He is the father of Jhon Chancellor, who plays for the national football team.
The situation across the country has deteriorated sharply after an election on July 28, after which the electoral authority, a body that is controlled by the government, declared Maduro the winner. But the opposition said it had clear proof, confirmed by almost 25,000 election machine printouts, that its candidate, Edmundo González, had won by a landslide, with 67 per cent of the vote.
The electoral council has since declined to publish a detailed breakdown of the result, something it is required to do by law. The government has blamed a cyberattack for the delay.
Although Maduro allies, including China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, Mali and Djibouti, have congratulated him on victory, some of Venezuela’s neighbours and western nations have doubted the official result. The US has declared González the winner.
On Wednesday, President Boric of Chile became the latest leader to reject Maduro’s “self-proclaimed” victory. Brazil and Mexico have pressed Maduro’s government to release the full vote tallies.
Boric said: “I have no doubt that Maduro’s government has attempted to commit fraud in Venezuela’s election.” He added that detailed election results would have been released if its victory was clear.
Protests after the result declaration, many of which targeted symbols of 25 years of socialist rule in Venezuela, have led to 23 deaths. The government says two national guard soldiers have been killed. The protests have subsided, but arrests of those linked to opposition parties have continued.
Gonzalo Himiob, from the Venezuelan legal assistance group Foro Penal, told CNN the crackdown was “repressive escalation that has never been seen before in the country, not in this way”.
Maduro has been unapologetic about the crackdown, describing his opponents as “fascists” who are trying to destabilise the country. He has said there have been more than 2,200 arrests.
The authorities have dubbed their security operation “Tun-Tun”, meaning “knock knock”. Government loyalists, the police and the army have been encouraged to report any threats they receive, in return for swift justice.
The Maduro government is facing an investigation by the International Criminal Court for possible crimes against humanity dating back to 2017, including arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and torture. The government denies all the allegations.