Venezuela’s Maduro Refuses To Leave Power As His Political Opponents Come Under Threat Of Arrest

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has shown no signs of stepping down from power — even after likely losing in the country’s presidential elections last week — as his top political opposition faces potential arrest, according to several reports.

Maduro, a socialist and widely viewed as a dictator, declared victory in Venezuela’s presidential elections in late July even as questions immediately arose as to the legitimacy of the results. The U.S. and some Latin American nations have refused to recognize Maduro as the winner amid independent reports from the opposition showing that Edmundo González — Maduro’s primary competition in the race — actually won a majority of the votes, according to the Associated Press.

But Maduro has thus far refused to admit his loss or step aside from power, and the government’s top prosecutor issued a criminal investigation on Monday into González and his party ally, Maria Corina Machado.

“[González and Machado] falsely announced a winner of the presidential election other than the one proclaimed by the National Electoral Council, the only body qualified to do so,” Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a statement on Monday, per a translation provided by the AP.

Tarek accused González and Machado of inciting “police and military officials to disobey the law,” according to the statement. Both party leaders had called on the nation’s armed forces to seriously reconsider their allegiance to Maduro’s regime, even as they have shown no signs of deserting him, the AP reported.

Maduro is deeply unpopular among the Venezuelan population as the country has sunk into poverty and disorder under his rule, which began in 2013. His proclaimed victory immediately sparked nationwide protests and law enforcement swiftly intervened.

Maduro announced on Saturday that over 2,000 opponents and protesters had been arrested in one of his regime’s most sweeping crackdowns yet, according to Bloomberg and the AP. González and Machado have gone into hiding, citing concerns that they will be killed or arrested — the latter threat Maduro’s regime has made.

The U.S. and a number of Latin American states have called on Maduro to step aside and pass the baton to González.

“This is a question about respecting the will of the Venezuelan people. And as we concluded… when you look at the tallies that the opposition made public, it’s clear that even if every outstanding vote came back for Maduro it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the advantage that Edmundo González had,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday.