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World In Focus: Venezuela

Protests erupted in Venezuela in July after incumbent candidate Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in the presidential elections. Evidence suggests that the election was rigged and the result is hotly disputed by the opposition party

1 Caracas The recent election results have been widely questioned, with world leaders calling for an investigation into their validity after opposition complaints about a fabricated vote count. Thousands of people took to the streets of Venezuela capital Caracas to protest the alleged corruption in the election and were met with a large police response using tear gas and rubber bullets. There were already fears of a violent crackdown due to the Maduro administration’s reputation for having a heavy-handed approach to demonstrators, and these concerns escalated once the president promised to “pulverise” those challenging his rule. So far, human rights groups claim that more than 2,000 people have been arrested and at least 22 people have been killed in the election’s aftermath.

2 Portuguesa Although most of the protests occurred in the capital city, free expression issues could be found country-wide. Polling stations were a particular cause for concern, as voters were met with long queues and delays on election day, and there were reports of some voters being blocked from accessing them altogether or even stations being moved without warning. Prior to election day, Transparencia Electoral - a Venezuelan NGO - warned of irregularities in the electoral process after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was blocked from running. Some officials who went to polling stations to observe the process were intimidated or banned from entering. Repression continued after the election; a number of opposition members were rounded up and arrested campaign coordinator María Oropeza even

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livestreamed her own arrest from her home in Portuguesa.

3 Venezuela-Colombia border Over the past 10 years there has been a surge in citizens migrating out of Venezuela due to the dire economic circumstances, with a reported 7.8 million having fled the country. This became a major talking point during the election as the government made it vir tually impossible for those living abroad to vote, disenfranchising millions of people. Voters abroad faced a number of hurdles

- those registering to vote had to provide a valid identity card (passports weren’t allowed) which are not issued abroad. This meant many Venezuelans whose IDs had expired could not vote. Venezuelan migrants complained that they had been omitted from the electoral register altogether, and that consulates opened for voter registration at very limited times. The result of this was that fewer than 68,000 people overseas were registered to vote, despite an estimated 3.9 million Venezuelans abroad being of voting age.

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