MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Machado and Gonález Urrutia urge Armed Forces to side with them as true election winners

“We won this election without any discussion whatsoever,” Machado and González Urrutia insisted

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia issued a communiqué Monday urging the Armed and Security forces to side with the people and disobey Nicolás Maduro's orders to suppress any protest after the alleged electoral fraud of July 28 whereby the incumbent head of state was chosen for the 2025-2031 term.

Machado and Gonález Urrutia also pledged there would be no reprisals against those who uphold their new government and no impunity for the rest. Given the overwhelming evidence showing who had won the elections, “The proclamation of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as President-elect of the Republic should be immediate.”

Here is the full statement:

“Venezuelans, military citizens and police officers, Venezuela and the whole world know that in the elections of 28 July our victory was overwhelming. From the humblest citizen, witness, member of the polling station, officer of the Armed Forces, police, to international organisations and governments, they know it. With the results in hand, the world has seen and recognised the triumph of the democratic forces.

We have done our part. We have carried out the most formidable civic mobilization so that the electoral victory was unquestionable. It is a triumph won with enormous energy and firmness, and we have done it in peace. We obtained 67% of the votes, while Nicolás Maduro obtained 30%. That is the expression of the will of the people. We won in all the states of the country and in almost all the municipalities. This reality is witnessed by all citizens, including the members of Plan República.

However, Maduro refuses to recognize that he was defeated by the entire country and, in the face of legitimate protest, has launched a brutal offensive against democratic leaders, witnesses, polling station members and even ordinary citizens, with the absurd purpose of trying to hide the truth and, at the same time, to try to corner the winners.

We call on the conscience of the military and police to stand with the people and their own families. With this massive violation of human rights, the high command is aligning itself with Maduro and his vile interests. While you are represented by the people who went out to vote, by your comrades in the National Armed Forces [FAN], by your families and friends, whose will was expressed on 28 July and whose will you know.

We are aware that in all the components of the National Armed Forces there is a decision not to repress citizens who are peacefully demanding their rights and their victory. Venezuelans are not enemies of the FAN. With this disposition, we call on you to prevent the actions of groups organised by the Madurista leadership, a combination of military and police squads and armed groups outside the state, who beat, torture and also murder, under the protection of the evil power they represent. You can and must stop these actions immediately. We urge you to stop the regime's rampage against the people and to respect and enforce the results of the 28 July elections. Maduro has staged a coup d'état that goes against the entire constitutional order and he wants to make you his accomplices.

You know that we have the irrefutable evidence of victory. The Carter Center's report is devastating about the electoral conditions and results, while Maduro tries to fabricate results when, moreover, the legal deadline for the publication of the results has expired.

Members of the Armed Forces and police forces, attend to your institutional duties, do not repress the people, accompany them.

Likewise, we ask all Venezuelans who have mothers, fathers, children, siblings, partners who are members of the National Armed Forces or police officers, to demand that they do not repress, that they ignore illegal orders and that they recognize Popular Sovereignty, expressed in the votes on Sunday 28 July.

The new government of the Republic, democratically elected by the Venezuelan people, offers guarantees to those who comply with their constitutional duty. It also stresses that there will be no impunity. This is a commitment we have made to each and every Venezuelan.

We won this election without any discussion whatsoever. It was an electoral avalanche, full of energy and with an admirable citizen organisation, peaceful, democratic and with irreversible results. It is now up to all of us to ensure that the voice of the people is respected. The proclamation of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as President-elect of the Republic should be immediate.

Caracas, 5 August 2024”