Venezuelan political, voting and human rights crisis
The 2024–2025 Venezuelan political crisis is the ongoing crisis in Venezuela that was aggravated after the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election results were announced. The 2024 election was held to choose a president for a six-year term beginning on 10 January 2025. Incumbent Nicolás Maduro ran for a third consecutive term, while former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia represented the Unitary Platform (Spanish: "Plataforma Unitaria Democrática", PUD), the main opposition political alliance, after the Venezuelan government barred leading candidate María Corina Machado from participating.
International monitors called the election neither free nor fair, citing the Maduro administration having controlled most institutions and repressed the political opposition before and during the election. Academics, news outlets and the opposition provided "strong evidence" according to "The Guardian" showing that González won the election by a wide margin. The government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) announced results claiming a narrow Maduro victory that were rejected by the Carter Center, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the United Nations. Political scientist Steven Levitsky called the official results "one of the most egregious electoral frauds in modern Latin American history".
A 6 August article in "The New York Times" stated that the CNE declaration that Maduro won "plunged Venezuela into a political crisis that has claimed at least 22 lives in violent demonstrations, led to the jailing of more than 2,000 people and provoked global denunciation." In the aftermath of the government's announcement of falsified results, protests occurred across the country, as the Maduro administration initiated Operation Tun Tun, a crackdown on dissent, and detained opposition political figures while refusing to relinquish power. Criminalization of protest was widely condemned by human rights organizations. Maduro did not acknowledge the results which showed him losing the election, and instead asked the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), composed of justices loyal to Maduro, on 1 August to audit and approve the results. On 22 August, as anticipated, the TSJ described the CNE's statement of Maduro winning the election as "validated". On 2 September, an arrest warrant was issued for González, and he left Venezuela for asylum in Spain on 7 September.
Initial reactions to election results.
On 30 July, the Carter Center issued a harsh rebuke of the election authorities, stating there was a "complete lack of transparency" and that the election "cannot be considered democratic".
Fraud allegations.
Anne Applebaum wrote in "The Atlantic" that it "was absolutely clear by [31 July] that ... the election had been stolen". Independent observers have described the election results as arbitrary, even by Venezuelan standards, according to "The Guardian".
Political scientist Steven Levitsky called the vote "one of the most egregious electoral frauds in modern Latin American history."
Attorney Juan Carlos Delpino, one of the five CNE rectors, went into hiding after the election. Delpino stated in an interview with "The New York Times" that he had seen no evidence of a Maduro victory, expressing personal shame that the CNE had "failed the country". Delpino noted irregularities in the election including the absence of published vote tallies from the CNE, and a lack of CNE pre-election meetings that allowed CNE head Amoroso to make "unilateral" decisions.
Domestic.
María Corina Machado and Edmundo González rejected the results from the CNE and claimed victory.
Maduro described the result as "a triumph of peace and stability", while alleging that the US was fomenting civil war in Venezuela and blaming the turmoil on "international Zionism".
A Meganálisis poll of 1,007 people in Venezuela from 8 to 11 August found that 93% of respondents believe Maduro lost the election. Venezuelans who responded that they were happy were 2.8%, and the poll found that 40% hoped to leave the country before the end of 2024.
Alleged cyberattack on electoral system.
On 29 July, CNE head Elvis Amoroso stated that during the election, CNE had been the victim of a cyberattack originating in North Macedonia, and accused the opposition of orchestrating it. Stefan Andonovski, Minister of Digital Transformation for North Macedonia, stated that "this is a socialist regime that for years has often leaked information not supported by evidence and accuses interested parties and states that have no responsibility in such cases." Jennie Lincoln from the Carter Center said there was no evidence of a cyberattack, including from "companies that monitor and know when there is a denial of service".
International.
The election results released by the government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) were followed by a mixture of scepticism and criticism from the leaders of most Latin American countries. Some Latin American countries—including Cuba, Honduras, and Nicaragua—recognized and congratulated Maduro as the election winner. Some world leaders expressed skepticism of the claimed results and did not recognize the CNE claims; however, "The Washington Post" reported that "Russia, China, Iran and Cuba were among those to congratulate Maduro".
President Gabriel Boric of Chile was the first foreign leader to question the CNE result, stating that the "results are difficult to believe". President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador warned that "that is the danger of dictatorship, and today we are witnessing how one more of them tries to take hope away from millions of Venezuelans." Condemnation from some countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru and Uruguay described the CNE result in terms of fraud or corruption. Harsh criticism came from President Javier Milei of Argentina, who called Maduro a dictator. Argentina recognized González as president-elect on 7 August.
The three leftist presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico were quick in demanding that all votes be counted, along with full transparency of all ballot records from each precinct. Mexico and Colombia rejected the results and called for transparency and verification. The Colombian government called for the "total vote count, its verification and independent audit to be carried out as soon as possible". President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil called the controversy a "normal" process, but asked for the release of the total vote tally. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico said on 30 July that the vote tallies should be publicized, but he saw no evidence of fraud. On 1 August, the three presidents released a joint statement of concern over post-election violence, and asking for "impartial verification of results" quickly, at the disaggregated level. Officials from the three nations—whose governments are allied with Maduro according to the Associated Press (AP)—have worked with the government and the opposition, "seeking a solution to the country's political crisis". The AP writes that the opposition has reason to be wary of recommendations from this group to "follow Venezuelan laws and appear before the appropriate institutions", since the "ruling party controls every aspect of government, including the justice system, and uses it to defeat and repress real and perceived opponents".
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken initially expressed doubts about the veracity of the results from the CNE, and on 1 August, said there was "overwhelming evidence" that González won. He called for talks and a peaceful transition, but the US has not referred to González as "president-elect". The "Miami Herald" wrote on 7 August that Mark Wells, a State Department official, suggested in a phone call with reporters that the US was deferring to ongoing negotiations between Maduro and the Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, while spokesperson Matthew Miller said they weren't yet endorsing a president-elect.
On 29 July, Canada's deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland expressed that Canada had "serious concerns" about the proclaimed election results. Freeland emphasized Canada's long-standing support for Venezuela's democratic opposition and condemned the increasingly authoritarian nature of the regime. In January 2025, Canada formally recognized González as president-elect. The minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly declared: "Maduro's shameless actions demonstrate that democracy and the rule of law cannot be taken for granted. We will not tolerate the erosion of the democratic process or the repression of citizens seeking to express their rights."
The day after the election, nine Latin American countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay) called for an emergency meeting of the OAS, for 31 July. The member states did not reach consensus on a resolution. OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro—referencing the ongoing investigation in the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Venezuela for crimes against humanity—said he would petition the ICC for the arrest of Maduro. Prior to the election, Maduro had stated that if he did not win, there would be a "bloodbath, a civil war"; Almagro said Maduro was fulfilling that promise and it was time for justice.
The deputy prime minister of Italy Antonio Tajani stated that the Italian government was "perplexed" by the reported election results, expressing apprehension about Maduro's claim to victory reflecting "the will of the people." In November, Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni recognized Edmundo González as the president-elect of Venezuela.
Diplomatic and commercial relations.
The BBC and "The Guardian" reported that Peru was the first country to recognize González as Venezuela's president-elect, on 30 July—a statement from the former Peruvian foreign minister that was corrected on 5 September by Peru's Council of Ministers after a new foreign minister was named. Peru had recalled its ambassador from Venezuela on 29 July, and expelled the Venezuelan diplomats from Peru the next day. In response, Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Peru.
Panama suspended diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Venezuela also expelled diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Uruguay; as of 1 August, Brazil took over running the Caracas embassies of Argentina and Peru. Venezuela suspended flights between Venezuela and both Panama and the Dominican Republic after those countries requested a review of the election results. It also ordered the temporary suspension of flights to Peru.
Maduro ordered Argentina to abandon its embassy in Caracas within 72 hours, by 1 August, and cut power to the embassy residence, which was surrounded by security forces. The Argentine Embassy has given asylum to six of Machado's campaign workers since December 2023, when the Maduro administration sought their arrest while she was still a presidential candidate. The Argentine government said the asylum seekers must be given safe passage to leave with embassy personnel, but the Maduro administration did not agree to that condition; Brazil assumed mediation of the situation with the asylum seekers in the embassy residence after Argentine diplomats were expelled. Costa Rica has offered asylum to the six; international law affords protection of diplomatic personnel and political asylum seekers.
Aftermath.
Protests.
Venezuelan citizens who considered the results to be fraudulent took to the streets to protest. During the month of July, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS: Observatorio Venezolano de Conflictividad Social) documented 1,311 protests throughout Venezuela; 70% were on 29 or 30 July. OVCS said most of the protests occurred in poor areas, and involved "harassment, arbitrary arrests, threats and political retaliation against leaders and sympathizers of opposition political parties".
As of 15 August, 25 people had been killed during protests nationwide. According to Victims Monitor, those included a 15-year-old; all were shot, and "eight were linked to the military, three to police and seven to the pro-Maduro motorcycle gangs known as 'colectivos'."
On 28 July—the date chosen for the election as it would have been the 70th birthday of Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chávez—nine statues of him were brought down by protesters.
According to "Infobae" a "forceful statement following the electoral fraud in Venezuela and the criminalization of protests" was published on 1 August by Amnesty International in a joint statement with ten other human rights organizations that "condemned the repressive actions of the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela and demanded that it guarantee the right to protest and full respect for the rights to life, personal integrity and freedom".
Crackdown.
Maduro accuses the opposition of promoting a coup. In a crackdown by security forces following the elections, he mentioned using Operation Tun Tun; BBC News stated that "rights groups say it consists of the authorities going door-to-door to detain those with links to the protests or the opposition". Rafael Uzcategui of Laboratorio de Paz "suggested the operation was intended to terrify Venezuelans into submission", adding that "what we are seeing is simply an effort to sew ["sic"] a climate of terror", according to "The Guardian".
Maduro personally encouraged individuals to report those protesting the CNE election result through an internet application, VenApp. Another internet page created by the government allows users to post media of protesters where they can be identified by other users. Venezuelans are reportedly leaving their homes without carrying their phones, out of fear