2024 Venezuelan political crisis

Statue of Hugo Chávez being pulled down during the 2024 Venezuelan protests

The 2024 Venezuelan political crisis refers to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela that was aggravated after the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election results were announced.[1][2][3] The 2024 election was held to choose a president for a six-year term beginning on 10 January 2025.[4][5] Incumbent Nicolás Maduro ran for a third consecutive term, while former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia represented the Unitary Platform (Spanish: Plataforma Unitaria Democrática, PUD), the main opposition political alliance, after the Venezuelan government barred leading candidate María Corina Machado from participating.[6][7]

International monitors called the election neither free nor fair,[8] citing the Maduro administration having controlled most institutions and repressed the political opposition before and during the election.[4][9] Academics, news outlets and the opposition provided "strong evidence" according to The Guardian[10] showing that González won the election by a wide margin.[11][12] The government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) announced results claiming a narrow Maduro victory that were rejected by the Carter Center, the Organization of American States (OAS),[13] and the United Nations.[14] Political scientist Steven Levitsky called the official results "one of the most egregious electoral frauds in modern Latin American history".[15]

A 6 August article in The New York Times stated that the CNE declaration that Maduro won "plunged Venezuela into a political crisis that has claimed at least 22 lives in violent demonstrations, led to the jailing of more than 2,000 people and provoked global denunciation."[2] In the aftermath of the government's announcement of falsified results, protests occurred across the country, as the Maduro administration initiated Operation Tun Tun, a crackdown on dissent, and detained opposition political figures while refusing to relinquish power. Criminalization of protest was widely condemned by human rights organizations.[16] Maduro did not acknowledge the results which showed him losing the election,[17] and instead asked the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), composed of justices loyal to Maduro,[18][19][20][21] on 1 August to audit and approve the results.[22][23][24][25] On 22 August, as anticipated,[23][20][21] the TSJ described the CNE's statement of Maduro winning the election as "validated".[22] On 2 September, an arrest warrant was issued for González,[26] and he left Venezuela for asylum in Spain on 7 September.[27]

Crisis in Venezuela
Causes
Effects
Events
Elections
Protests
Timeline
Armed violence
flag Venezuela portal
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference FacesSetback was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Kurmanaev, Anatoly (6 August 2024). "Venezuela's Strongman Was Confident of Victory. Then Came the Shock". New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  3. ^ Buitrago, Deisy; Nava, Mariela (18 August 2024). "Venezuelan opposition protests as election dispute drags on". Reuters. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b Otis, John; Kahn, Carrie (26 July 2024). "What to know about Venezuela's election, as Maduro faces stiff opposition". NPR. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Venezuela Will Hold Presidential Elections On July 28: Official". Barrons.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Líder da oposição nas pesquisas, María Corina Machado é inabilitada por 15 anos na Venezuela". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 30 June 2023. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Venezuela's Supreme Court disqualifies opposition leader from running for president". 27 January 2024. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  8. ^ Glatsky, Genevieve (31 July 2024). "Venezuela's Election Was Deeply Flawed. Here's How". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 August 2024. It had already been clear for months that Venezuela's presidential election on Sunday, would not be free or fair, as the government jailed opposition leaders or disqualified them from running for office, and prevented millions of Venezuelans abroad from voting.
  9. ^ "Maduro regime doubles down on censorship and repression in lead-up to Venezuelan election". ICIJ. 24 July 2024. Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  10. ^ Rogero, Tiago (6 August 2024). "Evidence shows Venezuela's election was stolen – but will Maduro budge?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  11. ^ Kurmanaev, Anatoly; Singer, Ethan (31 July 2024). "Election Results Presented by Venezuela's Opposition Suggest Maduro Lost Decisively". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024. The Times analysis shows that the election tallies provided by the researchers are not compatible with a victory by Mr. Maduro, by any margin.
  12. ^ Wells, Ione (2 August 2024). "Overwhelming evidence Venezuela opposition won election - Blinken". BBC News. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Informe del Departamento para la Cooperación y Observación Electoral (DECO) de la Secretaría para el Fortalecimiento de la Democracia de la OEA sobre la elección presidencial de Venezuela para el Secretario General Luis Almagro" [Report of the Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) of the Secretariat for the Strengthening of Democracy of the OAS on the presidential election of Venezuela for the Secretary General Luis Almagro] (PDF) (in Spanish). Organization of American States. 30 July 2024. Wikidata d:Q128129159. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  14. ^ Goodman, Joshua (13 August 2024). "UN expert panel sent to Venezuela blasts lack of transparency in presidential elections". Associated Press. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  15. ^ Turkewitz, Julie (30 July 2024). "What Happened to Venezuela's Democracy?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 30 July 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference AICondemnViolence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Phillips, Tom (14 August 2024). "Nicolás Maduro's refusal to quit raises a troubling question for Venezuela: what next?". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference GuardianPressureGrows was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Herrero, Ana Vanessa; Schmidt, Samantha; DeYoung, Karen (15 July 2024). "Biden made a bold deal with Venezuela's strongman. Will it pay off?". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  20. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LoyaltoMaduro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference HandPicked was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ReutersCourtRatifies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BBCStayinPower was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference CriesFoul was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference APCourtCertifies was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference APArrestWarrant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference ElDiarioAsylum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).