"The high command aligns itself with Maduro and his vile interests, while you are represented by those people who came out to vote," expressed María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia.

The Venezuelan opposition leaders Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado asked this Monday (08/05/2024) the military and police of their country to take "the side of the people", after the questioned re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, which they denounce as a fraud.

"We call on the conscience of the military and police to stand on the side of the people and their own families," they indicated in a letter in which they ask to stop the "repression" of opposition protests and in which they offer "guarantees to those who fulfill their constitutional duty" in an eventual "new government".

The demonstrations leave at least 11 civilians dead, according to human rights organizations, and according to Maduro, there are more than 2,000 detainees.

"The high command aligns itself with Maduro and his vile interests, while you are represented by that people who came out to vote (...), whose will was expressed on July 28 and you know," notes the document that González Urrutia signs. as "president-elect."

González Urrutia was nominated as a representative of Machado, who had won the opposition primaries but was prevented by political disqualification.

Maduro was ratified on Friday by the National Electoral Council (CNE) as re-elected president with 52% of the votes, compared to 43% for the opposition candidate. The opposition maintains that González had 67% of the votes, according to voting records that he published on a website. The ruler has dismissed the validity of these documents.

"The new government of the republic, democratically elected by the Venezuelan people, offers guarantees to those who fulfill their constitutional duty. Likewise, it highlights that there will be no impunity. This is a commitment that we assume with each of the Venezuelans," said González Urrutia. and Machado.