The OAS confirmed electoral fraud and systematic repression by Nicolás Maduro's regime.

The Organization of American States (OAS) reaffirmed that the regime led by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela committed electoral fraud during the July 28, 2024, elections and keeps a repressive apparatus aimed at holding on to power.

This was reported by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) during a presentation before the Permanent Council of the regional body, in which the concealment of electoral results and serious human rights violations in the Caribbean country were detailed.

The presentation was given by Gloria Monique de Mees, rapporteur for Venezuela at the IACHR, who presented a five-page report on the country's political and social situation.

According to the document, the Chavista government is concealing the results that gave the electoral victory to Edmundo González Urrutia on July 28, 2024, and keeps a powerful system of illegal repression to perpetuate itself in power.

In the same vein, the rapporteur warned: "More than a year later, the National Electoral Council still hasn't published the records needed to verify the results it declared in favor of Nicolás Maduro. This refusal to provide even the most basic electoral data violates national laws and international standards. It casts a long shadow over the credibility of the electoral process and deprives citizens of their right to know the truth about their vote".

The report highlights that the consequences of the electoral process were not limited to a lack of transparency, but led to an escalation of repression. "The consequences of this controversial process have gone beyond concerns about transparency. Acts of state repression and serious abuses of human rights have been systematically committed", Mees indicated.

According to Maduro himself, more than2,000 people were detained during the post-election protests, while the Venezuelan attorney general confirmed the deaths of 25 people in that context. "Of the 25 documented deaths, 24 were caused by gunshot wounds to the head and chest, and one by a fatal beating. Only one victim belonged to the Bolivarian National Guard; the rest were all civilians", the rapporteur detailed.

Meanwhile, the IACHR noted that the authorities admitted the detention of hundreds of adolescents, mostly from vulnerable sectors, arrested during the protests or in operations called "Operation Tun Tun". Despite the time that has passed, there has been no progress in the investigations or measures to protect the rights of the detainees, many of whom remain in conditions that "may constitute torture or inhuman treatment".

The report also includes testimonies from journalists and media workers, who reported arbitrary detentions and harassment as part of a pattern of repression aimed at silencing critical voices.

"The Commission has long warned of the collapse of democracy in Venezuela: the erosion of human rights, the dismantling of the rule of law, and the breakdown of democratic institutions.  Today we see how this collapse is manifested in a state that represses dissent, silences the opposition, and manipulates the tools of justice to strengthen its own power", Mees concluded.

The IACHR's presentation took placein the absence of the OAS Secretary General, Albert Ramdin, who was replaced by Sebastián Kraljevich, Secretary for the Strengthening of Democracy, who delivered a formal speech without further details on the subject.