Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which observers say is loyal to the government of President Nicolas Maduro, on Thursday declared him the winner of the disputed July 28 election despite opposition claims of widespread vote fraud.
In its ruling, read by presiding judge Caryslia Rodriguez, the court said it had “indisputably certified election materials and validates the results of the July 28, 2024 presidential election issued by the National Electoral Council, CNE,” naming Maduro as the winner.
Minutes later, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia responded to the ruling by posting an image to social media saying “void.”
“The sovereignty of the people is not transferable,” he said.
Maduro had asked the court earlier this month to weigh in on the election, in which he claims to have defeated Gonzalez Urrutia with 52 percent of ballots cast, according to the CNE.
The CNE did not provide a precinct-level breakdown of its results, saying it had been the victim of a cyber attack. The Supreme Court on Thursday said there was “evidence of a massive cyber attack against the electoral system.”
Observers say the supposed hack is an excuse to not provide vote results.
The opposition’s tally of polling station-level results — which it has published online — showed Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, had won more than two-thirds of votes. Maduro’s party says the material is “forged.”
“To the court’s judges: no decision will replace the will of the people. The country and the world know about your bias and, as a result, your inability to resolve this conflict,” Gonzalez Urrutia said in a post earlier Thursday.
“Your ruling will only make the crisis worse.”
READ ALSO: Venezuela election: US recognises opposition candidate Edmundo González as winner
Rodriguez said earlier this month that the high court’s ruling would be “final.”
On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council questioned the impartiality of the court in a social media post.
“We warn about the lack of independence and impartiality of the Supreme Court of Justice and of the National Electoral Council which have played a role in the state’s repressive machinery,” the post quoted a UN fact-finding panel as saying.
“The Government exerted undue influence over TSJ decisions including through direct messages to judges and public statements from President Nicolas Maduro and Diosdado Cabello,” said panel chair Marta Valinas, referring to a lawmaker who is a key ally of the president.
Juanita Goebertus, Americas division director at Human Rights Watch, also denounced the decision.
“The recent decision of the Supreme Court is nothing more than a crude attempt to judicially cover up electoral fraud,” she posted on social media.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric on Thursday called the decision a “consolidation of fraud.”
“There is no doubt that we are facing a dictatorship that falsifies elections, represses those who think differently and is indifferent to the largest expatriate community in the world only comparable to that of Syria as a result of a war,” he said in a social media post.
Chile hosts one of the largest communities of Venezuelan migrants in Latin America, with about 532,000 resident there, according to UN estimates that Maduro’s government rejects.
Boric’s government was one of many in the region critical of Maduro’s election victory claim, a position that saw Caracas cut diplomatic ties in late July.
The number of people killed in post-election violence has risen to 27, Venezuela’s attorney general announced Thursday. More than 190 people have been injured and 2,400 arrested in election-related protests.
Venezuela’s parliament, controlled by members loyal to Nicolas Maduro, on Tuesday delayed debate on a law against “fascism” seen by detractors as a means of cracking down on political opponents.
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