A leading figure within Venezuela’s opposition coalition was arrested on Tuesday, his party said, denouncing an "escalation of repression" amid protests that erupted Monday against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro during which at least 11 people died and dozens were injured, according to a local NGO.
"Just a few minutes ago our national political coordinator, Freddy Superlano, was kidnapped," The Voluntad Popular party wrote on X.
The opposition party called on the international community to denounce the escalation of repression in Venezuela and demanded the publication of electoral results of Sunday’s vote.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab on Tuesday said 749 "criminals" had been arrested during the protests and faced charges of resisting authority or, "in the most serious cases, terrorism."
The civilian death toll from clashes between police and demonstrators protesting against President Nicolas Maduro's disputed reelection rose to 11, the Foro Penal NGO said Tuesday.
"In just one day, we had 11 deaths," Foro Penal chief Alfredo Romero told reporters in Caracas, expressing concern about "the use of firearms" in protests that saw members of the security forces use tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters Monday.
Opposition leader calls for protests
Electoral authorities said on Monday that Maduro had won a third term with 51% of the vote, extending a quarter-century of socialist rule.
But the opposition said the 73% of voting tallies to which it has access showed opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won an unassailable victory, winning more than twice as many votes as Maduro.
"My dear Venezuelans, tomorrow we meet; as a family, organised, demonstrating the determination we have to make every vote count and defend the truth," opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said in a post on X late on Monday, calling for supporters to march on Tuesday.
Jorge Rodriguez, a ruling party lawmaker and Maduro's campaign manager, urged followers to take part in marches to the Miraflores presidential palace to support the government.
While Gonzalez has warned against violence, Rodriguez accused the opposition of stoking violence.
Speaking on Monday night, Maduro said that his government "knows how to confront this situation and defeat those who are violent," though he also said he supported peace.
Maduro - a 61-year-old former bus driver and foreign minister - took office on president Hugo Chavez's death in 2013 and his 2018 reelection is considered fraudulent by the United States and others, who call him a dictator.
Many Venezuelan voters despaired at news of another six-year term for Maduro, who has presided over an economic collapse, the migration of about a third of the population, and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations, crowned by sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others which have crippled an already struggling oil industry.
Governments in Washington and around the world have called for a full tabulation of the votes, while 12 member nations of the Organization of American States are set to meet to discuss the election on Wednesday.
The tallies in possession of the opposition showed a total of 2.75 million votes for Maduro and 6.27 million for his rival, former diplomat Gonzalez, Machado said.
The numbers were sharply different to the 5.15 million votes the electoral authority said Maduro had won, compared to 4.45 million for Gonzalez.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
