CARACAS, July 31 (NNN-XINHUA) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed the opposition’s presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, for the post-election violence unleashed across the nation.
“I hold you responsible, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, for the criminals, for the injured, for the dead, for the destruction,” the president said in a message broadcast to the nation during a joint meeting of the Council of State and the Defense Council.
The president also announced the creation of a fund to aid victims of the violence.
Up to 749 people have been arrested for participating in violent riots following Sunday’s presidential election, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Tuesday.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on Monday declared Maduro the winner of the election, paving the way for his third six-year term, from 2025 to 2031.
Those arrested face charges of “incitement, obstructing public roads, hate crimes … resisting arrest and, in the most serious cases, terrorism,” the attorney general said at a press conference.
According to Saab, as a result of the violence, 48 military and police officers have been injured, some by gunshots, and a military officer in northern Aragua state was killed.
Authorities have verified that far-right groups have been using minors and people under the influence of drugs in riots in various cities in Venezuela.
The riots, Saab said, are not protests but rather the work of “armed criminals” looking “to create chaos. They wanted … this to escalate to the national level … so there is foreign intervention.”
Venezuela held presidential elections on Sunday, and the National Electoral Council on Monday declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the elections. — NNN-XINHUA
