Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs A major political opposition movement in Venezuela says its headquarters in the capital, Caracas, was vandalised overnight as tensions escalate in the aftermath of President Nicolas Maduro’s disputed election victory.
Vente Venezuela, the movement headed by opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said six unidentified men wearing hoods and carrying guns overpowered its security guards to get into the office.
Images published on social media showed several walls covered in black spray paint. “We denounce the attacks and insecurity to which we are subjected for political reasons,” the movement said.
The news comes a day after Machado urged Venezuelans to take to the streets on Saturday to protest against Maduro’s re-election, which has thrust the South American nation into a political crisis.
Maduro faces growing international pressure to release the full vote breakdown from Sunday’s election amid concerns his government could launch a wider crackdown on opposition leaders and protesters.
Earlier this week, the National Electoral Council (CNE) formally declared Maduro the winner of the vote. It said on Friday that with 96.9 percent of the tally sheets counted, Maduro had 52 percent support compared with 43 percent for main opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzalez.
But the opposition has said its tally of about 90 percent of the votes showed Gonzalez received more than double the support of the incumbent.
Gonzalez condemned the raid on the Vente Venezuela headquarters on Friday, writing on social media that the “repression of the Venezuelan people who expressed themselves at the polls on July 28 and the persecution of our teams is increasing”.
“The truth is the path to peace,” he added.
Argentina’s foreign minister recognised Gonzalez as Venezuela’s president-elect on Friday, while other countries in the region – including Uruguay and Ecuador – also said the opposition candidate had secured the most votes.
The opposition has released detailed vote results on a public website, but the government has so far not shared the precinct-level tallies demanded despite a recent pledge by Maduro to release “100 percent of the records”.
The president, who came to power in 2013 after the death of his mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez, has accused his political opponents of stoking unrest.
This week, he blamed Gonzalez “for everything that is happening in Venezuela”, including “criminal violence, … the wounded, the dead, the destruction”.
On Friday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil also said the United States is “at the forefront of a coup attempt”.
“Venezuela’s democracy is one of the most robust in the world, no effort to undermine it will be able to do so,” the government said in a statement shared by Gil.
Mass protests
Maduro’s election victory prompted thousands of Venezuelans to demonstrate in Caracas and other parts of the country this week, where they were met by tear gas and rubber bullets fired by police.
Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that it had received reports of 20 deaths in demonstrations after the vote. More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested, according to the authorities.
“We urge the Venezuelan authorities to respect the democratic process,” Laura Dib, director of the Venezuela programme at The Washington Office on Latin America, a research and advocacy group, said in a video shared on social media.
She also called on Caracas “to refrain from political persecution and repression and guarantee the rights to peaceful assembly and free expression”.
The leaders of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil – who have pursued friendlier relations with Venezuela than other countries in the region – have urged the Venezuelan electoral authorities to “move ahead quickly and let itemised ballot box level results be known publicly”.
“We reiterate our willingness to support dialogue efforts and the search for agreements that benefit the Venezuelan people,” the leaders said in a statement on Thursday.
“The fundamental principle of popular sovereignty must be respected through impartial verification of the results.”
The Venezuelan Supreme Court has summoned all the presidential candidates to a hearing on Friday afternoon after Maduro’s request that it initiate a process to investigate and certify the election results.
Meanwhile, in response to election-related criticism, Venezuela has expelled diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
Caracas and Lima expelled each other’s diplomats after Peru recognised Gonzalez as Venezuela’s elected president.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said this week that “overwhelming evidence” showed Gonzalez had defeated Maduro.
Blinken urged “Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people”.
In a post on X, Gonzalez thanked the US “for recognizing the will of the Venezuelan people reflected in our electoral victory and for supporting the process of restoring democratic norms in Venezuela”.
Outgoing Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that Washington’s recognition of Gonzalez as the election winner was “an excess”.
