U.S. recognizes opposition candidate González as winner of Venezuela’s presidential election
NBCJul 24
Venezuela Launches Criminal Probe Into Opposition Leaders
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Above: Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado stands next to the opposition candidate Edmundo González during a press conference a day after the presidential election on July 29, 2024 in Caracas, Venezuela. Image copyright: Marcelo Perez del Carpio/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced on Monday that a criminal investigation has been launched into opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and opposition leader María Corina Machado.
The duo has been accused of committing multiple crimes including usurpation of functions, spreading false information to cause fear, incitement of insurrection, association to commit crimes, and conspiracy.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
González Urrutia and Machado have now fully embarked on Washington's revamped version of its failed Guaidó coup plan, promoting unverified claims that the radical opposition candidate is president-elect while dismissing the Supreme Court's audit of the results. These latest actions show they were real in their threats to bring "terrible consequences" for the country, but Venezuela and its people will never back down to such pressure.
Pro-establishment narrative
This mockery of an election has shown that all efforts to ensure a peaceful democratic transition for Venezuela were in vain because Maduro never really intended to carry out free and fair elections — let alone to leave power. This isn't a left-right issue. González is the rightful president-elect, and the world's democracies must recognize that and pressure Maduro.
