Maduro opponents take to streets to revive protests disputing Venezuelan election results

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro took to the streets Wednesday in an attempt to revive protests against him as he tightens his grip on power following last month's disputed election.

The demonstration in the capital, Caracas, comes exactly a month after the fraught July 28 vote in which Maduro was declared the winner despite strong evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo González won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, which drew international condemnation that the vote lacked transparency.

In weeks of on-again, off-again demonstrations, the opposition's rallying cry has been constant but so far ineffective. Opponents have demanded that officials publish results from each polling station that they say would expose Maduro's attempts to steal the election.

“Voting records kill sentence,” is how the opposition billed the latest protest, referring to the thousands of tally sheets it collected and posted online that contradict a recent sentence written by the loyalist Supreme Court certifying Maduro's purported victory.

Wednesday's protest was smaller than previous demonstrations. Tiny groups of Venezuelans also gathered in other Latin America capitals.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who along with González went into hiding following the election, re-emerged to attend Wednesday's rally, waving a Venezuelan flag and hugging small children from the back of a truck as supporters shouted “Freedom!”

Banned from running against Maduro, the conservative politician crisscrossed the nation for weeks to help elect González, a previously unknown former diplomat.

Acknowledging the steep challenge of forcing Maduro from power, Machado said the movement she leads will be strategic about calling for additional demonstrations. But she said the international pressure on Maduro is unlikely to cease any time soon and pointed out that not a single Western democracy has recognized what she called Maduro's “fraud.”

“Those who say the passage of time favors Maduro are wrong,” Machado said to throngs of supporters who filled an avenue in Caracas. “Every day he's more isolated, more toxic."

Not to be outdone, Maduro's supporters also planned to hold rallies Wednesday, vowing to “defend” Maduro's victory against what they claim is an attempt to sow unrest throughout the South American country.

Amid the ongoing crisis, Maduro has leaned heavily on security forces to preserve his power. On Tuesday, he appointed a hard-line ruling party boss as interior minister, with oversight of police forces. Diosdado Cabello has vowed to show no mercy against government opponents.

Cabello's appointment stoked fears that a crackdown that has already led to more than 2,000 arrests — of journalists, politicians and students — is likely to intensify.

The arrests featured prominently at a special meeting Wednesday of the Organization of American States in Washington to discuss a report on human rights violations by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“The commission condemns unequivocally practices of institutional violence in the context of the electoral process in Venezuela,” Roberta Clarke, a lawyer from Barbados and member of the commission, said at the meeting. “Democracy and the rule of law must be restored.”

The commission called on Venezuelan authorities to cease all actions that “generate terror” in the population — including arbitrary detentions and the use of violence by non-state actors loyal to Maduro — and respect the popular will of Venezuelans for democratic change.

“The Venezuela crisis has reached a new nadir,” Ambassador Frank Mora, the U.S. representative to the OAS, said at the meeting. “The situation in Venezuela demands our urgent attention and our collective action."

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Goodman reported from Miami. Associated Press Writer Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.

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