“We’ve seen this movie before,” said Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro from the presidential palace following a night of massive protests and unrest which has seen clashes with police. The protests look to spread Tuesday, as new large rallies are being planned.
“We have been following all of the acts of violence promoted by the extreme right,” he added in the fresh remarks cited by Reuters. Overnight, several United Socialist Party of Venezuela offices and headquarters were burned by oppositionists who charge that the election was stolen.
Maduro also commented, “I’m getting a video here of the burning of PSUV’s headquarters in Calabozo… this is very typical of what they call ‘Color Revolutions’, designed by the Americans. It’s a script.”
Protests have reportedly come near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, with crowds – many of which marched by foot from rural districts – clashing with police, even using petrol bombs against security forces. And as we detailed previously, a number of statues depicting former President Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s mentor and leader of the country from 1999-2013, were torn down.
There are scenes of possible gunfire in the Venezuelan capital. Unverified social media videos appear to show that some of the anti-Maduro protesters are armed.
🇻🇪 | URGENTE
Esbirros del régimen de Nicolás Maduro, continúan disparando a plena luz del día en Caracas. pic.twitter.com/4awpI5ElBg
— UHN Plus (@UHN_Plus) July 30, 2024
At the same time, gangs of armed government enforcers have been patrolling on motorcycles – something which had also played out in similar 2019 protests.
Some videos are circulating which purport to show a hospital on fire amid the mayhem…
Esto es terrorismo
Seguidores de María Corina queman un Hospital en Coche. No quieren actas, quieren desestabilizar el país pic.twitter.com/uLMw2CqfC5
— Vanessa Ortiz (@VanessaOrtizz) July 30, 2024
A number of media correspondents have also observed many peaceful protests throughout the country. The protesters believe that opposition candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez – backed by popular leader Maria Corina Machado – was robbed in Sunday’s vote.
“Videos from across the country, from Charallave to Caucagüita, show crowds banging their pots — a rattling cacophony so loud it can be heard from far away across an entire city,” observed CNN correspondents. “CNN teams witnessed dozens of national guard soldiers in riot gear repressing the mostly peaceful protests with tear gas and batons.”
Unconfirmed footage shows that both sides are armed and have engaged in firefights…
Some of the gangs which switched sides and joined the protesters are now engaged in firefights with Maduro’s Colectivos gangs
The protesters need their help as they are the only ones in Venezuela who haven’t been completely disarmed by the communist regime
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2024
In his latest press conference opposition candidate González claimed he has proof that the election was stolen.
“I speak to you with the calmness of the truth,” González told dozens of supporters. “We have in our hands the tally sheets that demonstrate our categorical and mathematically irreversible victory.”
He said this following National Electoral Council, which is deeply embedded with the ruling Unites Socialist Party of Venezuela, officially declared Maduro the winner, allowing him a third six-year term. “Machado told reporters tally sheets show Maduro and Gonzalez received more than 2.7 million and roughly 6.2 million votes respectively,” according to the AP. But Maduro has vowed to enforce the “rule of law” in the face of the protests.
As for the claims of ‘color revolution’ – this hearkens back to the 2019 unrest which centered on Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido trying to launch a coup with help from the United States.
Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton in 2019:
‘Our sanctions on Venezuela have frozen $7 billion in PDVSA’s assets and will cost Venezuela🇻🇪 $11 billion of lost revenue in the next year’
Socialism didn’t destroy Venezuela, US sanctions did… pic.twitter.com/srpiVrIBnl
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) July 30, 2024
Current chaos in the capital has resulted in some pundits recalling press briefings from that period of the Trump administration where top US officials openly boasted of trying to subvert and divide the population using sanctions and immense political pressure.
Guaido was then named by Washington and an number of Western allies ‘Interim President’ – a title which more recently was quietly dropped as he has failed to maintain broad support within the country.
