As soon as the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced the result of the presidential election without any statistical support, Venezuela was once again the scene of popular protests. According to records from the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS), 1,311 protests were recorded in July 2024, representing an increase of 219% compared to July 2023. Between July 29 and 30 alone, the OVCS recorded 915 protests.
The repressive response was not long in coming. On July 29, the general prosecutor published a statement qualifying the alleged crimes committed by the protesters, disregarding the individual and personal nature of criminal liability. According to Provea, some 2,400 people were arrested between July 29 and August 13, including 107 minors and several people with disabilities. Provea also reported the death of 24 people, all by firearm, in just 4 days and the disappearance of at least 50 people between July 29 and August 1.
The scale of this unprecedented repression is so great that even the UN Secretary General, through his spokesperson, did not limit himself to insisting on the need to publish the results of the presidential election, but expressed his concern about “reports of human rights violations, including alleged arbitrary detentions of minors, journalists, human rights defenders, members or sympathizers of the opposition and others.”
The role of the general prosecutor appointed by the illegitimate national constituent assembly, Tarek William Saab, has been key in the persecution, ordering that those arrested be charged with crimes of public incitement, obstruction of public roads, incitement to hatred and resistance to authority. According to Provea, all the detainees are being charged with crimes under the Law Against Organized Crime and Financing of Terrorism. For its part, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has stated that victims are also being charged with crimes of conspiracy, treason, criminal association and disobedience of the law. The accused are being subjected to summary trials via telematic means, incommunicado and without the possibility of appointing defense attorneys of their choice.
The persecution, whose main target has been protesters, electoral witnesses, activists and political leaders, journalists, and human rights defenders, has already begun to have the expected consequence of a new peak of migration of people in need of international protection, which is added to the migration caused by the humanitarian emergency, without neighboring countries having adopted exceptional measures in the face of this situation.
While negotiations and the search for solutions to the electoral fraud require a moderate attitude and discreet channels on the part of different actors in the political and diplomatic arena, the human rights emergency demands an open and forceful response on the part of the international community. The life, freedom and integrity of thousands of Venezuelans have been trampled on in a way that is unprecedented in the history of Venezuela, and this must be denounced. In addition, the international community in general and the countries receiving the Venezuelan population in particular must relax entry, transit and stay requirements for those fleeing due to the evident political persecution. It is not enough to be in solidarity with Venezuela; it is urgent to be in solidarity with Venezuelans.