Venezuelan communists say Maduro has taken 'a step of no return towards authoritarianism'
Traditional leaders of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) said on Wednesday that the government of Nicolas Maduro “has taken a step of no return towards authoritarianism and very dangerous forms of state terrorism” after the presidential elections, the official result of which gave victory to the president and sparked protests across the country.
“The acute political crisis in Venezuela has revealed the reactionary nature of the Government-PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela), which has taken a step of no return towards authoritarianism and very dangerous forms of state terrorism,” he said in a note from the PCV, a formation intervened by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
Likewise, he denounced that after the elections there were “arrests of minors, women and disabled people”, “arbitrary and humiliating searches in the streets”, “illegal searches of houses and theft of property”, as well as “cancellation of passports”.
“This policy of terror has been fueled by psychological and propaganda operations” which, the PCV assures, aim to “neutralize popular protests.”
Maduro's re-election came after the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced the president's victory, later validated by the TSJ, without yet publishing the disaggregated results, as established in the electoral process calendar, after a month of presidential elections.
The main opposition coalition, the United Democratic Platform (PUD), claims that its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the elections by a wide margin, which is supported by the publication on a website of “83.5% of the electoral results” compiled by witnesses and poll workers on election night, documents supported by several countries and international organizations, and rejected by the government.
The Executive rejects the minutes published by the opposition and holds the leader of the PUD and her main supporter, María Corina Machado, responsible for the deaths recorded during the demonstrations, as well as the acts of “violence” that caused material damage in several public places.