Throughout the two weeks since Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed he won a third term in office, governments from around the world, human rights watchdogs, global entities and Venezuelans at home and aboard have denounced the July 28 national election for not being free and fair.

Venezuela’s security forces have jailed over 2,000 protesters and 25 people have died in the unrest following the controversial election. Maduro also officially banned access to X on Aug. 9. On state television, he accused the platform of “trying to sow violence, hatred, of trying to attack Venezuela from abroad.”

Presidential challenger Edmundo González Urrutia, formerly the country's ambassador to Argentina from 1998-2002, called on Maduro to “put an end to the violence and persecution and to immediately release all compatriots arbitrarily detained.” He joined fellow Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in urging citizens to protest on Aug. 17. Meanwhile, the Venezuela Supreme Court continues its audit of the results.

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Pope Francis added his voice over the situation in Venezuela during his Aug. 4 Angelus address from St. Peter’s Square. The pontiff made “a heartfelt appeal to all parties to seek the truth, to exercise restraint, to avoid any kind of violence, to settle disputes through dialogue, to have at heart the true good of the people and not partisan interests."

Rebecca Sarfatti, the co-founder of the Canada Venezuela Democracy Forum, who organized an Aug. 3 demonstration in Toronto demanding a stronger Canadian response to the “rigged” election, shared Francis’ remarks with people in her network, which includes family and friends on the ground in Venezuela. Not all were happy with the Pope's message, she said.

“It was probably not the Pope’s intention to inflame Venezuelans, but he did,” said Sarfatti.

“Venezuelans were upset with the Pope, to be honest, because he was requesting restraint from both parties. Restraint from violence (for those) who own the violence makes sense, but restraint from violence from the ones who don't have any way to be violent? People in Venezuela, in general, are peacekeepers. They want peace. Their moms, their kids and their families are going out to scream to the world that their election is being stolen again.

“The other thing is that the people of Venezuela are very upset with socialism and leftism,. And they feel that the Pope tends to go to that end of the spectrum. So, they weren't too happy with the statement.” 

Catholic Cardinals Baltazar Porras and Diego Padrón, the former a retired archbishop of Caracas and the latter a retired archbishop of Cumaná, waded in as well, stating in a three-page letter leaked to the public Aug. 1 that the country’s Catholic hierarchy and community must join in the chorus of voices demanding truth to prevail. Catholics make up approximately two-thirds of the Venezuelan population.

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Porras and Padrón jointly wrote: “What we cannot do is become another church of silence, letting time pass in vain. We have to discern in the Spirit the present moment as a kairos and act accordingly with courage, in the style of the apostles. We are not and cannot be neutral. It is necessary to carefully check the facts, to prophetically denounce, even at risk, injustices, and to proclaim our principles and values, accompanying the people in solidarity and pastorally, a task that is not easy but necessary."

The cardinals also levied criticism against Maduro’s regime for not “building bridges with the opposition” but instead “widening the abyss” by choosing to “annihilate (opponents) with repression, prison, violence and death.”

Daniel DiMartino, a Venezuelan-born fellow with the Manhattan Research Institute, recently told the New York Sun that the senior clergy taking such a public stand could lead to Maduro fixing his eyes on the Catholic Church.

The consequence of the letter is that the priests that weren’t already openly and purposefully supporting their parishioners to rebel against Maduro will begin to do more,” said DiMartino. “I don’t think, however, that the regime will focus on them until they finish arresting protesters. I do fear that they’re next.”

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2023 International Religious Freedom report for Venezuela, Maduro-aligned figures have already escalated verbal criticisms of the Catholic Church, particularly when they get word of clerics providing critiques about the political and social landscape. In January 2023, Diosdado Cabello, the vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), declared the Catholic Church an “ecclesiastical hierarchy that has historically turned its back on the people.” Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, accused the Catholic Church of being political meddlers while branding members of the Venezuelan Catholic Bishops’ Conference as “devils in cassocks.”

The state department report also outlined that Maduro is pausing or altogether cancelling funding for Catholic schools in some regions and there are routine hurdles in securing religious visas for priests.

DiMartino suggested a crackdown on Catholicism in Venezuela could mirror the actions taken in recent years by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s totalitarian government in Nicaragua. Priests and bishops have been arrested arbitrarily, and many Catholic charitable and educational organizations have had their property ruthlessly seized. Most recently, in July, the dictatorship cancelled the legal status of Radio María, a prominent Catholic radio station, and has exiled a number of clerics and bishops.

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The eyes of the world will continue to watch to see what the highest court in the nation declares regarding the results and if other countries will enact measures against the Maduro regime because of the repression on display.

In the immediate aftermath of July 28, The National Electoral Council — chock-full with appointees loyal to the PSUV leader — declared, without proof on paper, Maduro won over 51 per cent of the vote compared to around 44 per cent for challenger Edmundo González. The Democratic Unitary Platform opposition alliance released tally sheets on July 30 indicating Gonzalez prevailed with a 67-per-cent share of the votes, while Maduro netted 31 per cent of the tally, which was in line with exit polling.