Venezuela: International Community Must Reject Maduro's Power Grab and Support Edmundo González Urrutia

WASHINGTON-In response to the presidential inauguration of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, after a fraudulent election and months of violent repression, Freedom House interim Copresident Gerardo Berthin issued the following statement:

"Nicolás Maduro's sham inauguration today is the culmination of a fraudulent election that was engineered to cement his regime's authoritarian rule. It will lead to an intensification of what are already systematic human rights violations. The brutal repression of dissent and the blatant disregard for the will of the Venezuelan people since the stolen July election are unacceptable. Security forces have incarcerated political leaders and their family members, lawyers, election volunteers, journalists, human rights defenders, and protesters, including minors. The government has further constricted civic space through a series of laws that criminalize the exercise of fundamental rights and establish new and sophisticated mechanisms of social control. Given the regime's documented pattern of violating human rights with impunity for more than a decade, including a sharp escalation of violations in recent days, there is little doubt that Maduro and his allies will use their absolute power to entrench a state policy of repression, further erode basic rights and liberties, prolong their illegitimate rule, and deepen the country's humanitarian crisis.

"We urge the United States, other democracies in the region, and the international community to stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people by intensifying scrutiny of the human rights situation and reinforcing international efforts to hold members of the Maduro regime accountable for human rights abuses. The international community must also redouble its support for Venezuelan civil society and independent media, helping them to sustain their courageous work of defending fundamental freedoms and amplifying the voices of victims in Venezuela. Most importantly, we call on democracies around the world to recognize democratic leader Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of the presidential election, and to reject Maduro's fraudulent claim to have won a popular mandate."

Background

On January 10, 2025, Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated as president of Venezuela, following a fraudulent election on July 28, 2024. He ran against opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia in a process that was widely condemned by international observers for its serious irregularities. Venezuela's National Electoral Council, which is stacked with regime loyalists, declared Maduro the winner but refused to release paper tallies of the electronic vote count. Since then, several countries in the region and the European Parliament have recognized González as the legitimate winner of the election, based on vote tallies released by the opposition and corroborated by independent election observers. In the wake of the balloting, the Maduro regime intensified attacks on the political opposition, civil society leaders, and citizens who peacefully protested the declared results, leading to nearly 1,400 detentions and at least 24 deaths in the first weeks after the election alone. In the days immediately preceding the inauguration, the regime accelerated targeted detentions of prominent individuals, including Carlos Correa, executive director of the civil society organization Espacio Público; Rafael Tudares, González's son-in-law; and Enrique Márquez, an opposition politician. The Maduro-aligned National Assembly also passed multiple pieces of legislation that severely stifle civic space, including laws that criminalize human rights and civil society organizationsand any kind of perceived support for international sanctionson Venezuela.

Venezuela is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2024, and Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2024.

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan democracy organization that works to create a world where all are free. We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy's defenders.