Will Nicolás Maduro imprison María Corina Machado and Edmundo González?
This would seem to be the penultimate dilemma of the political nightmare in which Venezuela is plunged, although I don't think Chavismo is willing to cross this line, as it did not do with Juan Guaidó either. The Venezuelan Attorney General activated this Monday an investigation against both Venezuelan opposition leaders accusing them of several crimes, among them "usurpation of functions" and "dissemination of false information". The basis of the accusation is a message shared by Machado and Gonzalez, which actually constituted a rather clumsy step as it provides elements for the Public Prosecutor's Office to operate against them. Gonzalez presents himself as president-elect, they speak of a "new government of the Republic", and certainly urge the Armed Forces to disavow what officially has been determined so far by the National Electoral Council.
The Washington Post and Associated Press have made independent verifications of the tally sheets shared by the opposition, which supposedly validate its claim that Edmundo González won with sufficient distance to Nicolás Maduro on July 28. Trying not to worry the latter too much, President Lula da Silva said on Monday that the "[respect] for popular sovereignty is what moves us to defend the transparency of the (election) results", with Gabriel Boric opening fire again in the direction of the Miraflores Palace. At all these, the electoral power has not publicly shared the data disaggregated by voting tables that would allow to base its decision to grant the victory to Maduro. Yet it did do so with the Supreme Court of Justice, which requested them last Friday in the midst of the controversial proceedings it carries out to "certify" the electoral results.
SourceMaduro adds a new enemy
"I am going to break relations with WhatsApp, because WhatsApp is being used to threaten Venezuela and then I am going to eliminate my WhatsApp from my phone forever, little by little I will move my contacts to Telegram, to WeChat", said the Venezuelan president in response to alleged threats that military, police and community leaders are receiving through Zuckerberg's app. Now the call is to boycott it as a sign of unity. Instagram was also singled out the day before by Maduro, "for its (alleged) responsibility in the installation of hatred to divide Venezuelans, to seek a slaughter and a division of Venezuela, to bring fascism to Venezuela". The authorities in Caracas have not yet provided evidence of many of the allegations they have made in recent days, in which they have connected various actors such as former Colombian presidents Álvaro Uribe and Jorge Duque, and Washington, in the organization of violent acts in the country.
🇻🇪 | ÚLTIMA HORA: Nicolás Maduro: Yo voy a romper relaciones con WhatsApp, porque WhatsApp la están utilizando para amenazar a Venezuela, entonces yo voy eliminar mi WhatsApp de mi teléfono para siempre. pic.twitter.com/z1NuJ5MO39
August 5, 2024— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews)
And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.
Odd Maduro doesn't name the parent company of WhatsApp and Instagram. Does he think they've gone rogue and Zuckerborg isn't the machinator of the crimes of those subsidiaries of Meta? At least he's calling out corporate enemies American politicians are too beholden to, or blackmailed to, call out.
Goolag should be hanged, but you can't hang agreements, sadly.
Thanks!
I think he's a little unclear on what Meta is about, and its relationship as a parent company with Instagram, Facebook, or Whatsapp, to be honest. It seems to me that his intent here is more rhetorical than critical--in the sense you suggest--, seeking to encourage his base by adding a new enemy. Thanks for your regular feedback here my friend, again.