AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Protesters are continuing to protest in the streets of Venezuela following last weekend's contested presidential election. Current authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro claims he won a third term. But the opposition has been collecting evidence that appears to undermine that conclusion. As the dispute drags on, Maduro has cracked down on protesters while the U.S. and regional leaders have supported the opposition. NPR South America correspondent Carrie Kahn was just in Venezuela and joins us now. Good morning, Carrie.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Good morning.
RASCOE: You're talking to us from Bogota, Colombia, because the Venezuelan government would not let you stay there any longer, is that right?
KAHN: That is correct. They only gave short-term visas - actually, it's the first one I've gotten in years of asking - and Thursday, informed us that there would be no extensions. That's despite multiple airlines canceling flights out of Venezuela, as President Maduro severed diplomatic relations with countries that criticized him and the election results. Many foreign journalists were expelled. The offices of the opposition were vandalized, and I arrived in Colombia Friday night.
RASCOE: So what's been happening since you left Venezuela? Is the opposition still protesting the results?
KAHN: Yes, they did hold a sizable march yesterday in Caracas. The leading opposition figure in the country, Maria Corina Machado, came out, and she spoke to the crowd. She insisted she will not back down until the opposition's candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, is declared the winner. The 74-year-old former diplomat who was running in Machado's place after she was banned did not show up at that rally.
Machado said she - that both she and Gonzalez had been hiding from authorities. Human rights groups say there have been more than 10 deaths and hundreds of protesters, opponents, poll workers and others arrested in recent days.
RASCOE: So tell us where we are now with the election results. Is there any new data provided by the government proving President Maduro legitimately won the election?
KAHN: Maduro's loyalist electoral council updated tallies Friday with Maduro still winning 52% to Gonzalez's 44. The council, however, has - as has been the case since election night, Sunday - has not provided any proof of that victory. Venezuela has this very efficient electronic voting system. Voters cast their vote at a machine. It then spits out a paper receipt. That receipt is then placed in a sealed box.
And at the end of the night, the box is opened, and the votes are counted in front of poll workers and the public to corroborate the final machine tally. And I want to play you some of that counting on election night at this one station I visited in Downtown Caracas.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #1: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: Here, Gonzalez won 85% to Maduro's 12%.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #2: (Non-English language spoken).
(CHEERING)
KAHN: And everybody was just elated, and they were really so hopeful for a change in the country. I met a poll worker for the opposition that night. We spoke then and a few days later, and he says he's gone from elation to just rage. He no longer wanted me to use his full name. He's afraid, and this is Alejandro (ph).
ALEJANDRO: There was a landslide all across the board. So imagine the feeling when the president comes out at night, reading a napkin, basically and, you know, saying that Maduro won by 51%. And it's just ridiculous.
KAHN: He - pictures of every final tally sheet and sent them to this opposition website, as did poll workers all around the country, and that's how the opposition says that they have more than 80% of those tally sheets proving that they overwhelmingly won.
RASCOE: Why haven't the government's results been made public? Like, what do officials say?
KAHN: They insist that their system was hacked, but they haven't provided any proof of that. Maduro says he's now under attack by terrorists and opponents paid and coordinated by the U.S. and other foreigners. He says all those arrested are working to undermine his government and that Machado and Gonzalez should be arrested and detained for many years. He also severed relations with seven countries in the region, all who criticized the election, and he's expelled their diplomats.
RASCOE: So what now? What has the U.S. and other governments said about Maduro's persistence?
KAHN: U.S. government officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, came out and congratulated Gonzalez and said they believe he won the most votes. Whether the U.S. will snap back sanctions against Venezuela is to be seen. Sanctions were very tough during former President Trump's administrations, and some criticized them as not working to oust Maduro and instead collapsing the economy, which contributed to the exodus of nearly a quarter of Venezuela's population. I spoke to many Venezuelans who said they are leaving or thinking of leaving now that Maduro won't give up power.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Carrie Kahn in Bogota. Thank you so much.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
