FACT CHECK: Maduro’s team tries discrediting Venezuelan protesters | VOA News
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Published 2024-08-06
The government-aligned National Electoral Council, or NEC, certified the vote for President Nicolas Maduro, securing him a third six-year term in office.
On August 1, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was “overwhelming evidence” the opposition had won.
Blinken said the results released by the Maduro-controlled NEC “were deeply flawed, yielding an announced outcome that does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people.”
Independent exit polls conducted by domestic and international election monitors and opposition tallies show that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia of the Unitary Platform won by a comfortable margin. That prompted thousands of Venezuelans to take to the streets and protest the official results.
Maduro and his allies have floated unfounded conspiracy theories that foreign-backed hackers and power failures have kept them from releasing an official tally. They also doubled down on efforts to discredit the opposition, including by labelling it “extremist.”
The head of the Madura-controlled national assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, accused the opposition of leading a “fascist conspiracy” aimed at sparking a civil war.
Rodriguez called for the arrest of popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom the Madura-controlled Supreme Court barred from running, and her stand-in Gonzalez.
In some instances, protesters had torn down Maduro campaign posters or destroyed statues of Maduro’s deceased predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab seized on the incidents to depict the protesters as violent extremists instrumental in a foreign plot to “exterminate Venezuelans.”
“There are no antigovernmental protests taking place, but rather pockets of violence with destabilizing purposes that seek to create conditions for foreign intervention by spreading chaos in the national territory,” Saab said on July 30, 2023.
That is false.
Thousands of dissatisfied voters took to the streets amid credible allegations of vote rigging that fixed Maduro’s win.
Initially peaceful, the protests have turned increasingly violent after a crackdown by security forces. #factcheck #voanews
www.voanews.com/a/maduro-s-team-tries-discrediting…
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All Comments (21)
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tell me how the entire country is protesting but he had enough votes.
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America is hilarious they say an election cant be faked yet here they are opposing an election and being exactly what they spent 4 years calling trump 😂😂😂
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"Discrediting people like fake lawsuits and smear campaigns in the media non stop? That's horrible. What kinda country would do that? 🤔
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America there's a source you can trust
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if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.
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Without military support, these protests will not amount to anything.
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Let me guess, they are calling them far-right.
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atracodor y malversador
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All the Venezuelan refugee should go to Guyana 🇬🇾
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The opossition is paid by the US and Elon Musk as usual.
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Now what?
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Voice of America? All I need to know that Mr.Maduro won again...
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Voice of bullshit. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
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give it up america. The ppl of Venezuela will never allow you to control their government or oil again.
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Sounds familiar. Bunch of insurrectionist.
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I wish the Biden administration would take a stronger stance against Maduro
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Voice of American lies
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sounds word for word like what is going on in the US for the last 3 years
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Stay there!!!! Don't come here!! We're sick of you
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“During the crisis in Venezuela, governments of the United States, the European Union (E.U.), Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland have applied sanctions against Venezuela, as well as against specific government entities and individuals associated with the administration of Nicolás Maduro. Through April 2019, the U.S. sanctioned more than 150 companies, vessels and individuals, in addition to revoking visas of 718 individuals associated with Maduro.[1] By September 2019, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 119 Venezuelans had been sanctioned by the U.S. and several other countries.” Wikipedia: Sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis It isn’t just the US that imposed sanctions. Reasons for sanctions: Corrupt government, namely Madura.
