Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech during a rally to celebrate the results of the recent presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela. File photo
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Venezuela’s government has said that Brazil can no longer represent Argentina’s diplomatic interests in the country, putting several anti-government opponents holed up for months in the Argentine ambassador’s residence seeking asylum at risk.

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had notified Brazil of its decision, which will take effect immediately. It said it was forced to take action based on what it called evidence — which it hasn’t shared — that those who sought refuge in Argentina’s diplomatic mission were conspiring to carry out “terrorist” acts, including the assassination of President Nicolas Maduro and his vice president.

The move on September 7 is the latest burst of friction between the countries. Argentina’s President has been among those leading the charge against Maduro over alleged attempts to steal July’s presidential election. Electoral authorities pronounced Maduro the winner despite strong evidence collected at the ballot boxes by the opposition that it prevailed by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Since the election, thousands have been arrested in a brutal crackdown.

Magalli Meda, the former campaign chief of opposition leader María Corina Machado, was among a half-dozen government opponents who fled to the Argentina ambassador’s residence after Maduro’s chief prosecutor issued an order for her arrest in March for allegedly propagating destabilising political violence.

In retaliation, Maduro broke off diplomatic relations with Argentine President Javier Milei’s right-wing government, which tapped neighbour Brazil to represent its interests and safeguard the asylum seekers.

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said it was “surprised” by Venezuela’s decision. Under the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations, Argentina must now name a substitute custodian acceptable to Venezuela’s government, the foreign ministry said. Meanwhile, Brazil will remain responsible for the diplomatic mission, whose physical integrity cannot be violated, the statement said.

Since Friday, armoured vehicles from the SEBIN political police have been parked outside the Argentina ambassador’s residence in a leafy Caracas neighbourhood. Electricity to the diplomatic mission was also cut, according to Meda, who has taken to social media to denounce what she fears is an impending raid to arrest her and the other government opponents.

On Saturday, Milei’s government blasted Venezuela’s “unilateral action”. It also expressed gratitude for Brazil’s continued representation of its interests, indicating it wasn’t in any rush to find a replacement.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said any attempt to raid its ambassadorial residence and “kidnap” its asylum seekers would be condemned by the international community.

“Actions like these reinforce the conviction that in Maduro’s Venezuela the fundamental rights of human beings are not respected,” the foreign ministry said.

Brazil has also refused to recognise Maduro as the victor in the presidential election, demanding instead that authorities release a breakdown of results, as is customary in Venezuelan elections.

But unlike Milei, a strident conservative ideologue, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has gingerly tried to avoid antagonizing Maduro to give space for a regional reconciliation effort led by him and fellow leftist leaders from Colombia and Mexico.

That diplomatic effort has so far yielded few results, prompting observers to question its utility. Meanwhile, police have arrested more than 2,400 people in a brutal crackdown on protests and dissent.

This past week, Human Rights Watch issued a report connecting security forces and pro-government armed groups to the killing of several of the 23 protesters. The report was based on forensic analysis of videos shared on social media as well as interviews with witnesses. (

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday (Aug. 28, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Thursday vowed to keep the pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to leave office in January.

She also urged the international community to rise to the occasion by immediately recognizing her faction’s presidential candidate as the winner of the election in July, and implement measures to hold government officials accountable for abuses unleashed after the vote.

Ms. Machado, speaking to reporters online from an undisclosed location in Venezuela, reaffirmed her commitment to negotiate incentives and guarantees that could lead to a peaceful transition of power.

“We, the Venezuelan people, have done everything,” she said. “We competed with the rules of tyranny … and we won, and we proved it. So, if the world or some government is thinking of looking the other way, imagine where sovereign will and popular sovereignty end up in the Western world. It would mean that elections are worthless.”

Her comments came three days after the country’s justice system, which is loyal to the ruling party, issued an arrest warrant for former diplomat Edmundo González, who represented the main opposition coalition in the July 28 election.

While the National Electoral Council — stacked with ruling party supporters — declared Mr. Maduro the winner, it never released vote tallies backing their claim. However, the opposition coalition claimed that González defeated Mr. Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin and offered as proof vote tallies from more than 80% of the electronic voting machines used in the election.

Thousands of people, including minors, took to the streets across Venezuela hours after the electoral council’s announcement. The protests were largely peaceful, but demonstrators also toppled statues of Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, the late leader Hugo Chávez, threw rocks at law enforcement officers and buildings, and burned police motorcycles and government propaganda.

Mr. Maduro’s government responded to the demonstrations with full force. A Wednesday report from Human Rights Watch implicated state security forces and gangs aligned with the ruling party in some of the 24 deaths that occurred during the protests.

“They have no limits in their cruelty,” Ms. Machado told reporters Thursday.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday condemned the “unjustified arrest warrant” of González, characterizing it as “another example of Mr. Maduro’s efforts to maintain power by force.” Mr. Kirby said the U.S. is considering a range of options to show Mr. Maduro and his allies that “their actions in Venezuela will have consequences.”

Under the Biden administration, Venezuela’s government has been granted various forms of economic relief from economic sanctions the U.S. imposed over the years to try to topple Mr. Maduro. Earlier this year, it ended some of the relief when the government increased repression efforts against members of the opposition, civil society and others it considers as adversaries.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a staunch Maduro ally, on Thursday insisted his office had sought the warrant because González, 75, failed to appear three times to answer questions in a criminal investigation focused on the publication online of the tally sheets obtained by the opposition. Mr. Saab told reporters that the publication constitutes an usurpation of powers exclusive of the National Electoral Council and claimed that the opposition’s vote records are false.

“You shared the website on your (social media) networks,” Mr. Saab said, referring to González. “Explain why you shared it if it is false.”

Mr. Saab’s claim contradicts experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which at the invitation of Mr. Maduro’s government observed the election and then determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. In a statement critical of the election, the U.N. experts stopped short of validating the opposition’s claim to victory, but they said the faction’s voting records published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.

Washington:

The United States on Monday seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic and flew it to Florida, saying it acted over violation of US sanctions.

United States officials moved to take the aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900EX private jet used by Maduro and members of his government, with the Justice Department saying the jet was “illegally purchased.”

“The Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Aircraft tracking site Flight Radar 24 showed that the jet flew from Santo Domingo to Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning.

The US says that in late 2022 and early 2023, individuals affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal their involvement in the illegal purchase of the jet.

– ‘False’ victory claim –

The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023.

Since May 2023, the plane has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela.

The South American country was rocked by protests when Maduro was declared the winner of a disputed July 28 election, with dozens killed and more than 2,400 people arrested.

The opposition claims it won by a landslide and that it has the voting records to prove it.

The leftist Maduro government, brushing off accusations of authoritarianism, has resisted international pressure to release vote tally numbers to back up its claim of victory.

“Maduro and his representatives’ have tampered with the results of the July 28 presidential election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out wide-spread repression to maintain power by force,” a US National Security Council spokesperson said.

The seizure of the plane “is an important step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela,” they added.

The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro as having won without seeing detailed voting results.

Violence that accompanied the protests left 27 people dead and at least 192 wounded.

Since 2005, Washington has imposed sanctions on Venezuela that target individuals and entities “that have engaged in criminal, antidemocratic, or corrupt actions,” according to a Congressional briefing document.

“In response to increasing human rights abuses and corruption by the government of Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, the Trump Administration expanded US sanctions to include financial sanctions, sectoral sanctions, and sanctions on the government.”

Caracas was yet to comment on the seizure.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Caracas:

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose claim to victory at the polls has been widely contested, is no friend of billionaire Elon Musk, and the feeling is clearly mutual, with their war of words escalating amid the political crisis in Caracas.

Musk — who leads SpaceX and Tesla, and owns the social network X — is an ultra-capitalist who backs Donald Trump, meaning he is everything that the socialist Maduro despises.

But in recent days, the bus driver-turned-leader of oil-rich, cash-poor Venezuela has Musk — who he calls his “arch-enemy” — in his sights.

Maduro has accused Musk of being behind “attacks against Venezuela” and possibly the mastermind of an alleged “computer hacking” at the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared Maduro the winner of Sunday’s vote without providing detailed data.

On Tuesday, following a meeting of Maduro’s top political and military advisors, he announced the creation of a special committee, aided by Russian and Chinese experts, to evaluate the nation’s biosecurity and an attack on the CNE’s communications systems.

“The attacks, I am sure, were directed by the power of Elon Musk,” he said.

Opposition figures and observers do not believe there was actually a hack, but that authorities self-sabotaged the system so they would not have to provide the real election results.

Before voters cast their ballots, the 61-year-old Maduro was running well behind opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in independent opinion polls.

Late Tuesday, Maduro addressed hundreds of supporters from his balcony — and once again attacked the 53-year-old Musk.

“Venezuela, as I said yesterday and today, is facing domestic and international aggression from world powers, and now it is evident that Elon Musk is obsessed with the idea of taking over Venezuela and ruling it from abroad,” Maduro said.

“He is largely responsible for these attacks and acts of aggression,” he added, suggesting the existence of a “global alliance of the far right, the fascist far right, drug traffickers, Elon Musk and the imperialist US government.”

“All those who come after Venezuela, we will eliminate them.”

– ‘Shame on Dictator Maduro’ –
Musk has regularly slammed Maduro’s policies on X. 

When asked about the criticisms, a senior Venezuelan foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity: “We know who Musk is. He’s on the far right and supports (Argentine President Javier) Milei… So we take all these remarks as compliments.”

Before Sunday’s election, Musk posted: “It is time for the people of Venezuela to have the chance for a better future. Support Maria Corina!”

He was referring to the wildly popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running against Maduro.

After the vote, and the announcement of the results, Musk said Sunday: “Shame on Dictator Maduro” and “What a travesty.”

He also posted a 2020 announcement from the US Drug Enforcement Administration of criminal charges against Maduro for drug trafficking and a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

The posts sparked outrage from Maduro.

“He wants to come here with his guns and an army to invade Venezuela. Elon Musk, good thing you showed your face because we knew you were behind it all! With your money and your satellites,” Maduro said.

“He wants to control the world, he already controls Argentina… You want to fight? Elon Musk, I am ready. I am the son of Bolivar and Chavez, I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk… The people defeated Elon Musk’s bots, we defeated Elon Musk’s bots!”

Musk’s retort came in Spanish: “An ass knows more than Maduro.”

Later on, the billionaire added: “Sorry to have compared the poor ass to Maduro. That was an insult to the animal kingdom.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Venezuelans voted on July 28 between continuity in President Nicolas Maduro or change in rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia amid high tension following the incumbent’s threat of a “bloodbath” if he loses.

Polls suggest the vote poses the biggest threat yet to 25 years of “Chavismo,” the populist movement founded by Mr. Maduro’s predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.

But analysts say Mr. Maduro is unlikely to concede defeat, especially in the absence of immunity guarantees, with his government under investigation for human rights abuses by the International Criminal Court.

Long queues of voters formed at several ballot stations hours before polls opened at 6:00 a.m. (1530 IST) on July 28. Polls close at 6:00 p.m.

“I have been here since 4:30 in the morning, and I hope it will be a successful day,” lawyer Griselda Barroso, 54, told AFP in Caracas.

“I hope there is democracy.”

Mr. Maduro, 61, is seeking a third six-year term at the helm of the once wealthy petro-state that saw GDP drop 80% in a decade, pushing more than seven million of its 30 million citizens to emigrate.

He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.

In a message published on social media overnight, Mr. Maduro urged Venezuelans to “Vote, vote, vote, and peace will triumph.”

After casting his vote in the capital on July 28, he vowed to “make sure” the results were respected.

His contender, Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat, called on his compatriots to turn out in large numbers “to transform your future” in what “will undoubtedly be the most important democratic expression of the people in recent years.”

“We hope and wish that everything will transpire in peace,” he said in a video posted on social media.

Mr. Maduro lags far behind Gonzalez Urrutia in voter intention, according to independent polls, but counts on a loyal electoral machinery, military leadership and state institutions in a system of well-established political patronage.

Relying on its own figures, the government is also said to be certain of victory.

With several international election observers blocked from entering the South American country at the last minute, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for all parties to “respect the democratic process.”

“The Venezuelan people deserve an election that genuinely reflects their will, free from any manipulation. The international community is going to be watching this very closely,” Mr. Blinken told reporters in Japan.

‘Peace or war’

Days before the vote, Mr. Maduro said the outcome would decide whether Venezuela enters a period of “peace or war.”

“If they do not want Venezuela to become a bloodbath, a fratricidal civil war produced by the fascists, let us guarantee the greatest success, the greatest electoral victory of our people,” he said at a rally.

The comments drew condemnation from leaders including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said: “Maduro has to learn: if you win, you stay. If you lose, you go.”

Concerns were further stoked when Caracas blocked the international observers, including four ex-Presidents who had their plane held up in Panama on July 26.

‘World is watching’

Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, spoke to Machado on July 27, writing on X afterward: “We are on the side of democracy. The world is watching these elections.”

On July 26, a Venezuelan NGO said the government was holding 305 “political prisoners” and had arrested 135 people with links to the opposition campaign since January.

Caracas accuses the opposition of conspiring against Mr. Maduro, whose 2018 reelection was rejected as illegitimate by most Western and Latin American countries.

Years of tough U.S. sanctions failed to dislodge the President, who enjoys support from Cuba, Russia and China.

Venezuelans are clamouring for change.

Most live on just a few dollars a month, with the health care and education systems in disrepair and biting shortages of electricity and fuel.

The government blames sanctions, but observers point the finger at corruption and mismanagement.

About 21 million Venezuelans are registered to vote.

The government has deployed tens of thousands of security forces and enforced ramped-up border control and a prohibition on public gatherings and protests.

“While the election in Venezuela will hardly be free or fair, Venezuelans have their best chance in over a decade to elect their government,” Human Rights Watch Americas director Juanita Goebertus said this week, urging the international community to “have their (voters’) back.”

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking reelection for a third term, dances during the closing of his political campaign, in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Uncertainty hangs over presidential elections in Venezuela on July 28, with incumbent Nicolas Maduro vowing a “bloodbath” if he loses, which polls say is likely.

Seeking a third six-year term at the helm of the economically devastated country, Mr. Maduro lags behind challenger Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in voter intention. However, the 61-year-old counts on loyal electoral machinery, military leadership and state institutions in a system of political patronage and, critics say, opposition repression.

Mr. Maduro said July 25 that he, and he alone, can “guarantee peace and stability” for Venezuela, having warned recently of a “bloodbath” if he loses to an opposition he has sought to paint as “fascists.”

Analysts have told AFP that violence is likely if the state apparatus intervenes in an election that the opposition is all but certain of winning. Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, for his part, urged Venezuelans not let “the message of hate… intimidate you.”

Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat, is running in the place of wildly popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from the presidential race by institutions loyal to Mr. Maduro on what she and others say are trumped-up corruption charges.

Last week, the Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal reported 102 arrests this year of people linked to the opposition campaign, adding to more than 270 “political prisoners” in the country. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said July 25 that Washington hoped for “peaceful elections” and stressed that “any political repression and violence is unacceptable.”

The United States, which has sanctions in place against the Maduro government, is keen for a return to stability in oil-rich Venezuela, whose economic collapse has prompted many migrants to head to the southern U.S. border.

Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch said the U.S., European Union, and influential neighbours Brazil and Colombia should use every diplomatic tool to protect the integrity of the vote.

“While the election in Venezuela will hardly be free or fair, Venezuelans have their best chance in over a decade to elect their government, and the international community should have their back as they do,” said HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus.

Venezuela’s failed economy

The government in Caracas accuses the opposition of conspiring against Mr. Maduro, whose 2018 re-election was rejected as illegitimate by most Western and Latin American countries.

Years of tough sanctions and other pressure have failed to dislodge the president, who enjoys support from a political patronage system and the nation’s military leaders, as well as from Cuba, Russia and China.

Mr. Maduro has repeatedly vowed that he won’t cede power now even as Venezuelans clamour for change.

The formerly rich petro-state has seen GDP fall by 80% in less than a decade, driving some seven million of its citizens to flee. Most Venezuelans live on just a few dollars a month, with the health care and education systems in total disrepair and biting shortages of electricity and fuel.

The government blames U.S. sanctions for the state of affairs, however, observers say the collapse of the country’s all-important oil industry was mainly the result of deep-rooted corruption and mismanagement.

U.S. oil sanctions were briefly eased after Mr. Maduro agreed in negotiations with the opposition to hold free and fair elections this year. They were tightened after he reneged on the conditions, though Washington is allowing companies to apply for individual licenses to keep operating in Venezuela.

‘If you lose, you go’

The election poses the biggest threat yet to 25 years of “Chavismo,” the populist movement founded by Mr. Maduro’s predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.

Voter Mercedes Henriques, 68, told AFP at an opposition rally she was excited for change “because we cannot anymore with this dictatorship we have.” But her optimism was tainted by worry. “We are praying that they don’t steal the election,” she said.

Analysts told AFP the Mr. Maduro is unlikely to concede defeat, especially in the absence of any immunity guarantees. The Venezuelan government is under investigation for human rights abuses by the International Criminal Court.

Some 21 million Venezuelans are eligible to cast a vote on Sunday.

Caracas has withdrawn an invitation to European Union experts to observe the vote, while allowing monitors from the U.N. and the U.S.-based Carter Center.

Argentina’s former president Alberto Fernandez on July 24 said that Caracas had also withdrawn an invitation for him to observe the polling. This came after he echoed a statement by Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had said: “Maduro has to learn: if you win, you stay. If you lose, you go.”

In this photo provided by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Telegram, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony in Beijing on September 15, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

The leaders of China and Zambia announced an upgrading of their ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on September 15, as the world’s second-largest economy forges deeper ties with the Global South.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also met new Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet earlier the same day, and with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this week.

The trio of leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America speak to China’s growing role in those parts of the world. Chinese state banks have financed roads and other infrastructure projects and Chinese companies have built factories, mines, hotels and casinos.

China has in turn won diplomatic support from many Global South countries on contentious debates and votes at the U.N. and from Cambodia in China’s territorial disputes with other Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.

Its outreach to the Global South has taken on greater geopolitical import as China seeks allies to push back against growing pressure from the United States and its partners on multiple fronts.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported online that Mr. Xi and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema announced the upgraded partnership at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, a monumental building on one side of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

That came two days after China announced it had upgraded diplomatic ties with Venezuela to an “all weather” partnership — a status China has granted to only a handful of countries — after the Xi-Maduro meeting.

Development loans from China and others have saddled some countries, including Zambia, with unsustainable debt levels, sparking debt crises that stymie economic development. More than 40% of Cambodia’s $10 billion in foreign debt is owed to Chinese institutions.

Hun Manet made China his first official foreign visit after succeeding his father, Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for 40 years.

The U.S. had shown disapproval of Hun Sen’s undemocratic moves and is uneasy over the expansion of a Cambodian naval facility with Chinese assistance. Hun Sen consistently denied that Cambodia had granted China the right to set up its own military base at Ream Naval Base.

After his meetings in Beijing, Mr. Hun Manet plans to join other Southeast Asian leaders this weekend in southern China at the 20th ASEAN-China Expo, which promotes cooperation in trade, investment and tourism.