MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

At least 11 reported dead in Venezuelan rioting

Maduro held González Urrutia responsible for the violence

At least 11 people were killed across Venezuela amid riots protesting against the announced result of Sunday's presidential elections in which the incumbent Nicolás Maduro was said to have won another six-year term (2025-2031), it was reported Tuesday in Caracas. In this scenario, 749 have been arrested and 48 law enforcement officers were reported injured. The Non-Government Organization (NGO) Foro Penal believed the number of casualties reached 29.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) said that the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE), stadiums, city halls, and buildings belonging to the ruling PSUV party had been vandalized. “In Venezuela, there are no protests. There are armed groups of delusional people, armed, to attack and create chaos to escalate [the violence] to the national level so that there may be a foreign intervention,” claimed Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab.

United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk -who was singled out by Maduro as one of Venezuela's enemies behind tycoon Elon Musk, said he was concerned about the detentions as demonstrations were taking place in at least 17 of Venezuela's 24 states. “Hundreds of people have been imprisoned, including children. This makes me deeply uncomfortable. I am alarmed by reports of disproportionate use of force by law enforcement agents, along with violence by armed individuals supporting the government, known as collectives. Several demonstrators were killed by firearms, with one confirmed death on July 29,” he underlined.

Saab showed videos to the press of the police raids nationwide. “We are sorting out several of these detainees for crimes such as public instigation, obstruction of public roads, instigation to assault, which is severely punished in this country, resistance to authority, and, in the most serious cases, terrorism. And all are obviously being sentenced to imprisonment,” he said. He also linked this week's riots with the 2014 and 2017 “guarimbas” called for by the opposition which resulted in dozens of deaths.

Five were “murdered” in Caracas, two in Zulia, two in Yaracuy, one in Aragua, and another in Táchira, of which two were 15 and 16 years old, Foro Penal and other NGOs said. According to EFE, detentions continued through Tuesday amid clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officers after a mass rally in support of opposition candidate Edmundo Goonzález Urrutia and disenfranchised activist María Corina Machado.

While those standing opposite Maduro insisted Tuesday's demonstrations were “spontaneous and legitimate expressions” of discontent, the Socialist regime accused them of being “criminals” and “terrorists” who were planning a coup d'état on behalf of “fascist factors of the extremist rightwing.”

“I hold you responsible, Mr. González Urrutia, for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, for the wounded, the dead, for the destruction, you will be directly responsible,” said Maduro from a State Council meeting. He also blamed Machado for the incidents and ordered the Armed Forces and the police to “develop a patrol and protection plan for streets and avenues” to act against those who cause damage.