BOTH PRO- AND anti-government protesters held demonstrations in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas today, as tensions continue to flare over disputed presidential election results.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, leader of the Vente Venezuela (Come Venezuela) party, led a “Protest for Truth” in the capital. Speaking on a campaign truck flanked by motorcyclists and cars waving the national flag, she called on the anti-government protesters to “remain firm and united”.

In a statement on X, she said “They’re trying to scare us, to divide us, to paralyze us, to demoralize us, but they can’t because they are absolutely entrenched in their lies (and) violence.”

Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro was declared the victor of the election on 28 July with 52% of the vote. However, the National Electoral Council (CNE) has not provided a breakdown of the results.

Opposition figures say that their candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won with two-thirds of the vote.

Protests have led to the deaths of 25 people so far, with a further 200 injured and 2,400 arrested since election day.

Maduro has called for both Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia to be arrested, accusing them of fomenting a coup d’etat.

The results released by the CNE have been rejected by the United States, European Union, and a number of Latin American states. The US has already recognised Gonzales Urrutia as the victor.

The Organization of American States approved a resolution in Washington Friday urging Caracas to “expeditiously publish the presidential election records, including the voting results at the level of each polling station.”

The CNE says it has been unable to release the results due to a “cyber terrorist attack” on its systems, though the Carter Center observer mission has said there was no evidence for such a claim.

Maduro has asked the Supreme Court to “certify” the election result.

“Venezuela’s conflicts… are resolved among Venezuelans, with their institutions, with their law, with their Constitution,” he said on Thursday.

With reporting from © AFP 2024.