In late July, Nicolás Maduro won against Edmundo Urrutia and became the official president of Venezuela. This meant that the United Socialist Party of Venezuela would take control over Urrutia’s branch, which is the Democratic Unity Roundtable. However, despite Maduro winning 51.2% of the votes while Urrutia won 44.2%, many citizens were suspicious of this outcome. Both presidential candidates had declared victory in the election, creating controversy over who had really won. Earlier this week, Urrutia had claimed victory over the election since he had 70% of the votes while Maduro only had 30%. This was the largest margin difference in Venezuela’s history, and Maria Corino Machado, the leader of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, rejected the results of the election. She affirmed she had access to 73% of the voting records by the National Electoral Council that were towards Urrutia since they had access to over 80% of the tally sheets from over 30,000 voting machines. In addition, Urrutia had won in all Venezuelan states in votes and had even won in all earlier polls. Because of these factors, Machado decided to claim election fraud, saying that everyone knew what had really happened. The international community also suspected election fraud, and multiple countries refused to recognize Maduro’s victory. When several presidents and prime ministers of EU countries requested a release of the tally sheets for governmental transparency, they were denied. Politicians all around claimed that all rules had been violated and that they would not rest until the will of the Venezuelan people was respected and upheld.
After the presidential results, there have been massive demonstrations and protests in favor of Edmundo Urrutia. One notable incident was a band named Rawayana, a 2025 Grammy nominee and one of Venezuela’s most popular bands. Rawayana has been known for endorsing Maduro’s opponent Urrutia, and has even posted on X/Twitter urging Venezuelans to vote for Urrutia. After the election results, Rawanyana declared that Venezuela had been living in a great fraud and that they were not surprised to see another electoral fraud. In response, Maduro insulted the lyrics of their viral release Veneka, calling the song “insulting and humiliating.” After a few days following the president’s comments, on December 4, 2024, a music performance where Rawanyana had planned to perform was canceled. They announced that this was for, “reasons beyond their control,” and it was unclear whether the president led to this decision. Venezuela’s government has always been known to pressure businesses to close, and any businesses that help an opposing party are shut down.
Other than silencing businesses, the government has also silenced protesters. More than 1,800 people have been detained for protesting July’s election results. During demonstrations on July 30, 2024, 749 citizens were arrested for a variety of charges. These included a range from terrorism to obstructing public roadways. Venezuela had never had so many political prisoners until after the election, and a majority were even teens. A human rights group named Foro Penal had estimated that 11 people had been killed during these demonstrations by the government’s attempt to use fear and violence to solidify the fake election results. In addition, the government has also deployed tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters which fueled the flame to more international criticism on President Maduro’s actions. Maduro defended his actions by claiming that Venezuela was the target of an attempted “coup d’etat” and a “fascist revolution.” Despite attempts to silence the opposing party and suspecting citizens by arresting them, flames only rose after reports of protesters dying in custody. On December 10, 2024, desperate messages sent by prisoners were leaked. They were made public by relatives of the prisoners and organizations in demand to order their release. Letters included written confessions of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. These letters were then posted by leaders of the opposition’s political movement like Machado. A mother reported that her daughter was mistreated to the point where her ribs turned purple, and developed bumps over her body. Many prisoners were reported to have slept on a stone press, and the writings include accounts from at least 150 teenagers.
In this time of instability, over 7.7 million Venezuelans fled the country after the election results. Out of these numbers, 6.5 million have relocated within Latin America and the Caribbean. They were reported to be fleeing harsh economic conditions, or persecution by security forces and gangs. During Maduro’s Presidency, unemployment and unequal income had increased, and discrimination towards immigrants led many Venezuelans to run north. Among the people fleeing was opposing candidate Edmuno Urrutia, who fled into exile in Spain on September 8, 2024. Urrutia had to leave due to growing threats, arrest orders, and blackmail attempts from the government to silence him. To ensure a safe life with his family, he was forced to negotiate a deal with the government to safely leave. President Maduro stated that this would help restore the “country’s political peace and tranquility.” However, this outcome was a major blow to millions of people who had placed hope in Urrutia and his opposing campaign. Urrutia sent a short message to any supporters, saying that his departure was surrounded by acts of “pressure, coercion, and threats.” But he still trusted that he would continue to fight for the freedom of the Venezuelan people and restore Venezuela’s democracy. Democratic Unity Roundtable leader Machado assured that Urrutia would be back on January 10, 2024, for a ceremony that marked the start of the next presidential term. The opposition has promised a government transition that would come after the new presidential term begins.
Due to these chaotic incidents after the election, the UN has voiced concern over the use of counter-terrorism legislation against protesters and enforced disappearances of opposing party members. Although the UN Human Rights Council suspended operations in Venezuela in February, they have shown regret over this decision and strive to restore their full presence. On December 3, 2024, the top UN human rights watchdog ordered Venezuela to avoid destroying tally sheets and any other electoral material, and they launched an investigation over the election. However, during the International Criminal Court’s investigation, many have complained that they had a double standard. No progress has been made on the investigation, and the ICC has been focusing on the arrest of Netanyahu and Putin for atrocities in Gaza and Ukraine. Although both situations are important and in need of urgent action, the ICC’s investigation of Venezuelan officials has been going on for more than three years. The ICC has shown leniency, and some Venezuelan critics have speculated that the “foot-dragging” is because investigation leader Khan’s sister-in-law appeared on behalf of the Venezuelan government. This directly breaks the ICC’s code of conduct which states to abstain from any conflict involving personal matters. To protest the ICC’s incompetence and “unjustified failure” of Khan to persecute members of Maduro’s government for crimes against humanity, human rights attorney Claudio Grossman quit. Grossman asserted that his ethical standards would not let him stand by idly as human rights abuses continued without any action from the ICC. Even though the UN, EU, OHCHR, ICC, and many more international organizations have been working with Venezuela for years to protect human rights, there has barely been any progress as protesters continue to be silenced and imprisoned.
As this situation worsens, concern and unrest among the Venezuelans has grown deeply. The international community’s failure to protect human rights and prevent election fraud has had drastic impacts on civilians and will worsen if the investigation is not given more attention.
Written by Claire Liu
