A report prepared by “Human Rights in Movement”, a coalition formed by the main human rights NGOs in Venezuela, details the methods of coercion and manipulation exercised by Nicolás Maduro’s regime during the presidential elections of July 28, 2024. According to the document, these practices, deployed mainly in rural and impoverished areas, were intended to guarantee votes for the ruling party through threats, violence and social control.
By Infobae
Despite these mechanisms, the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won according to the voting records compiled by his campaign command. The figures show that González Urrutia received 7,443,584 votes, far surpassing Maduro, who received 3,385,155 votes, which represents 67% of national support for the opposition versus 31% for the government. However, the regime, unable to gather the necessary support, resorted to electoral fraud to stay in power, consummating its dictatorial character on January 10th with the unconstitutional swearing-in that was endorsed by the Chavista Parliament.
The document, created with data from the main NGOs in Venezuela, which for security reasons in the face of threats from the regime have resorted to publish it from hiding, indicates that the regime achieved victories in 169 of the 1,141 parishes in the country, concentrated in rural and vulnerable areas. In these territories, Maduro and his allies implemented a combination of threats and use of force, according to the report:
*Political use of social programs: Citizens were threatened with the withdrawal of benefits such as food bags from the CLAP program, pensions and access to basic services if they did not vote for the government.
*Labor intimidation: Public employees received warnings of dismissal if they did not support Maduro.
*Participation of armed groups: Guerrillas such as the ELN, criminal gangs and collectives acted as agents of intimidation, monitoring voters and, in some cases, forcing them to cast assisted votes.
In states such as Zulia, Portuguesa and Delta Amacuro, the report details that the communal councils and the Bolívar Chávez Battle Units (UBCH) played a key role, pressuring voters and conditioning access to essential resources.
On July 28th, in several regions of the country, witnesses reported violence, exclusion of opposition observers and maneuvers to prevent the transparency of the electoral process. In urban voting centers, such as in the Cathedral parish of the Libertador municipality, armed groups intimidated voters and blocked the counting of votes.
In other cases, such as in Portuguesa, direct threats were recorded, as well as the presence of armed officials in the centers, controlling and conditioning the voter. In the state of Bolívar, the participation of criminal groups associated with illegal mining was reported, which conditioned the vote in favor of Maduro.
Despite these practices, the report confirms that the opposition candidate González Urrutia was the true winner of the elections, with evidence that includes the minutes (official records, actas) published on independent platforms. The regime’s response was the intensification of repression after the elections, with 24 violent deaths recorded during protests and the deployment of the so-called “Operation Tun Tun”, used to illigela raid the homes of opponents without warrants and carry out arbitrary arrests.
The coalition “Human Rights in Movement” warns that these methods of coercion are not only illegitimate, but also demonstrate the Maduro regime’s inability to obtain the necessary popular support without resorting to fraud and violence. “In the absence of democratic guarantees, the NGOs published the report from hiding for security reasons.”
This report reinforces the call by the opposition and international organizations to investigate and punish human rights violations that have occurred in Venezuela, as well as to guarantee fair and free conditions in future electoral processes.