Voices Across the Globe Express Concern Over Increasing Arrests in Venezuela After Disputed Election 

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado addresses supporters during a march amid the disputed presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela August 3, 2024. (Reuters)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado addresses supporters during a march amid the disputed presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela August 3, 2024. (Reuters)
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Voices Across the Globe Express Concern Over Increasing Arrests in Venezuela After Disputed Election 

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado addresses supporters during a march amid the disputed presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela August 3, 2024. (Reuters)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado addresses supporters during a march amid the disputed presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela August 3, 2024. (Reuters)

Voices across the globe expressed concern Sunday over the growing number of arrests in Venezuela following last weekend’s disputed elections.

Pope Francis said Venezuela is “living a critical situation” in his traditional Sunday remarks at the Vatican, adding, “I appeal to all parties to seek the truth, to avoid all kinds of violence.”

The remarks came hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Saturday that the government has arrested 2,000 opponents. At a rally in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Maduro pledged to detain more people and send them to prison.

US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CBS program “Face the Nation” Sunday that the Biden administration is worried the arrests could spark wider unrest.

“We are concerned about the prospect of instability, should there continue to be these detentions,” Finer said.

And in a statement, the leaders of several European countries including France, Spain, Germany and Italy said “the rights of all the Venezuelans, especially the political leaders, should be respected during this process. We strongly condemn any arrests or threats against them.”

Authorities have declared Maduro the victor in last Sunday’s election but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won. The opposition claims to have tally sheets showing it won.

An Associated Press analysis Friday of vote tally sheets released by the opposition coalition indicates that their candidate, Edmundo González, won significantly more votes than the government claimed, casting serious doubt on the official declaration that Maduro won.

Both González, a former diplomat, and opposition leader María Corina Machado — who was barred by the government from running — have gone into hiding, saying they fear they will be arrested or killed. Maduro and his cadres have threatened to lock them both up.

The government arrested hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets in the days after the disputed poll.

Machado braved the threats to speak at a massive opposition rally Saturday in Caracas, but was whisked away afterwards on the back of a motorcycle.

“After six days of brutal repression, they thought they were going to silence us, intimidate or paralyze us,” Machado told the rally. “The presence of every one of you here today represents the best of Venezuela.”

A few hours later, Maduro again threatened to arrest González for not showing up at the electoral council meeting he had been summoned to. The council, like most parts of Venezuela's government, is completely controlled by Maduro.

“You face serious legal consequences for disobeying the Constitution, the courts and the law,” Maduro said of González.

Maduro also vowed to continue to use a heavy hand against his opponents, saying 2,000 of them have been arrested already.

“This time there will be no pardon, this time there will be Tocorón,” he said, referring to a notorious prison.

On Friday, masked assailants ransacked the opposition’s headquarters on Friday, taking documents and vandalizing the space.

In his long, rambling speech, Maduro issued threats but also called for reconciliation and peace, claiming, “There is room in Venezuela for everyone,” and calling it “the blessed land of opportunity.”

Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into a free fall marked by 130,000% hyperinflation and widespread shortages after Maduro took the helm in 2013. More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.

US oil sanctions have only deepened the misery, and the Biden administration — which had been easing those restrictions — is now likely to ramp them up again unless Maduro agrees to some sort of transition.

Late Friday, Venezuela’s high court, the Supreme Justice Tribunal, ordered the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council to hand over the precinct vote count sheets in three days. There have been calls from multiple governments, including Maduro’s close regional allies, for Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release the precinct-level tallies, as it has after previous elections.

The AP processed almost 24,000 images of tally sheets, representing the results from 79% of voting machines.

According to the calculations, the González received 6.89 million votes, nearly half a million more than the government says Maduro won. The tabulations also show Maduro received 3.13 million votes from the tally sheets released.

By comparison, the National Electoral Council said Friday that based on 96.87% of tally sheets, Maduro had won 6.4 million votes and Gonzalez had 5.3 million. National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso attributed the delay in filing complete results to attacks on the “technological infrastructure.”

There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts by Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to convince Maduro to allow an impartial audit of the vote. On Thursday, the governments of the three countries issued a joint statement calling on Venezuela’s electoral authorities “to move forward expeditiously and publicly release” detailed voting data.



South Korea President's Indictment: What Happens Next?

South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the third hearing of his impeachment trial in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 21 January 2025.  EPA/Kim Hong-Ji / POOL
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the third hearing of his impeachment trial in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 21 January 2025. EPA/Kim Hong-Ji / POOL
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South Korea President's Indictment: What Happens Next?

South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the third hearing of his impeachment trial in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 21 January 2025.  EPA/Kim Hong-Ji / POOL
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the third hearing of his impeachment trial in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 21 January 2025. EPA/Kim Hong-Ji / POOL

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol was indicted for his martial law declaration that plunged the country into political turmoil, with prosecutors accusing him of being a "ringleader of insurrection".

His indictment on Sunday makes him the country's first sitting head of state to face a criminal trial for his short-lived martial law declaration on December 3.

Yoon has been ordered to remain in a 12-square-meter (129-square-foot) cell at a detention center in Seoul for the duration of his trial.

AFP takes a look at what lies ahead.

What happens to Yoon now?

Yoon has been charged with insurrection for his martial law declaration, which lawmakers voted down hours later before impeaching him.

The 64-year-old resisted arrest for two weeks in a tense stand-off between his security team and investigators at his official residence in Seoul but was finally taken into custody on January 15.

The court must rule on the case within six months, or he will be released.

If Yoon is found guilty of insurrection, he faces the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Prosecutors previously raised concerns about the risk of evidence destruction, citing it as a reason to detain him.

But Yoon's lawyers said the investigation lacked legitimacy from the start and have challenged the legality of his indictment.

"We are discussing a bail request (for Yoon) with the court," his lawyers told AFP on Monday, without giving any further details.

Where is Yoon now?

For now, Yoon is housed in a cell equipped with a television, sink, and a single-person desk that doubles as a dining table.

There is also a toilet, folding bed and Yoon has been provided with an electric mat to stay warm during the winter.

Meals are served in his cell and the impeached president must clean his dishes in the sink in accordance with prison regulations.

His solitary cell -- which typically holds several inmates -- resembles those occupied by two former presidents, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, who also served jail time.

Is he still president?

Yoon remains head of state, but he is not in charge -- his duties have been suspended and delegated to acting President Choi Sang-mok.

Separate from the court deciding on his insurrection charges, the country's Constitutional Court has also been deliberating whether Yoon should be removed from office ever since MPs voted to impeach him.

Their ruling could come as early as February or as late as June, and is the only official way to remove Yoon from office.

Six of the eight sitting judges must approve the impeachment for this to happen.

Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University, said the Constitutional Court is expected to conclude its deliberations before two of the judges finish their terms mid-April.

If the court rejects impeachment and finds that Yoon's martial law declaration was lawful, he will be reinstated.

But if it is upheld, an election must be held within 60 days.

Who would win?

Leading in recent polls is Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party -- with all the other rivals lagging behind, according to the latest Gallup poll.

But analysts caution that it is too early to say whether Lee will emerge victorious, as approval ratings for his party and Yoon's remain closely aligned.

"It will ultimately come down to moderate voters to determine the country's next phase," South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo reported Monday.