Voices across the globe express concern over increasing arrests in Venezuela after disputed election

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — 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.

U.S. 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 President Nicolás 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.

U.S. 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.

Venezuelan nationals protest against the results of their country's presidential election, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)

Venezuelan national Flormarys Gómez takes part in a protest against the results of her country's presidential election, declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)

A giant Hugo Chavez balloon towers over supporters before the start of a pro-government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

President Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters during a government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro gather for a government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro gather for a government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuelan nationals protest against the results of their country's presidential election, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)

The sun shines down on the National Electoral Council building in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, three days after the country's presidential election. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

A supporter holds a framed image of President Nicolas Maduro as people gather for a government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

President Nicolas Maduro gestures during a news conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, three days after his disputed reelection. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds a national flag while waving to supporters as she arrives for a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

FILE - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, gives Pope Francis a statuette of Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, a popular figure amongst Venezuelans, at the Vatican on June 17, 2012. Pope Francis said Venezuela is “living a critical situation” in his traditional homily Sunday, August 4, 2024, at the Vatican. (Andreas Solaro, pool photo via AP, file)

Protesters clash with police during demonstrations against the official election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro's reelection, the day after the vote in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are veering sharply in how they gear up for Tuesday’s presidential debate, setting up a showdown that reflects not just two separate visions for the country but two politicians who approach big moments very differently.

Harris spent the weekend cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh where she focused on honing crisp two-minute answers, per the debate’s rules.

Meanwhile, Trump has publicly dismissed the value of studying for the debate. The former president is choosing instead to fill his days with campaign-related events.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the latest:

Vice President Kamala Harris plans a four-day campaign trip through major swing states after the Democrat’s debate Tuesday with Republican Donald Trump.

Her “New Way Forward” tour will include a new television spot, rallies, canvassing events and programs designed to target important voting groups, the campaign said Sunday, adding that the tour will culminate at the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 15.

In a tight race against the former president, the Harris campaign sees itself as having the room to persuade voters before focusing more intently on turnout with the beginning of early voting before the Nov. 5 election. Trump has also stepped up his outreach with rallies and interviews in seemingly friendly forums.

▶ Read more about Harris’s post-debate plans

When Donald Trump and Kamala Harris meet onstage Tuesday night in Philadelphia, they’ll both know there’s little debate that Pennsylvania is critical to their chances of winning the presidency.

The most populous presidential swing state has sided with the winner of the past two elections, each time by just tens of thousands of votes. Polling this year suggests Pennsylvania will be close once more in November.

A loss in the state will make it difficult to make up the electoral votes elsewhere to win the presidency. Trump and Harris have been frequent visitors in recent days — Harris plans to return Friday — and the former president was speaking in Butler County on July 14 when he was the target of an assassination attempt.

The stakes may be especially high for Harris: No Democrat has won the White House without Pennsylvania since 1948.

▶ Read more about Pennsylvania’s role in this election

From her earliest campaigns in California to her serving as President Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris has honed an aggressive but calibrated approach to debates.

She tries to blend punch lines with details that build toward a broader narrative. She might shake her head to signal her disapproval while her opponent is speaking, counting on viewers to see her reaction on a split screen.

And she has a go-to tactic to pivot debates back in her favor: saying she’s glad to answer a question as she gathers her thoughts to explain an evolving position or defend a past one.

▶ Read more about Harris’ debate style

A new Harris campaign ad airing running on Fox News on the day of the presidential debate features former Trump officials warning of what they say are the dangers of a second Donald Trump presidency.

The ad is running in Philadelphia and West Palm Beach, Florida — where Trump lives — on Tuesday.

It features clips from former Vice President Mike Pence saying he would not be endorsing Trump. Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley all warn against the Republican.

The presidential debate begins at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday on ABC.

If you ask Trump’s previous debate opponents what they’re watching for on Tuesday night — and we did — many say the same thing: Look out for the thing he says or does that Harris can’t possibly prepare for.

Trump is the ultimate wild card who's found tremendous political success by ignoring the traditional rules of politics. He will say or do whatever he thinks is best in the moment. And Harris, who has dedicated several days to debate prep, can’t make a plan for everything.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine Trump surprising anyone with new material. He has praised dictators, talked about genitalia size, suggested suspending the U.S. Constitution and said that Harris only recently “turned Black.”

Trump’s own team doesn’t know what he’ll do or say on any given day. That’s incredibly risky for Trump. But it also puts enormous pressure on Harris.

Republicans hope Trump makes immigration a defining issue of the debate.

The GOP has effectively condemned the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border for much of the last four years.

Harris will be eager to remind voters that Trump helped kill a bipartisan immigration bill that would have done much to fix the problem. But overall, Harris is likely to be on the defensive when the issue comes up.

Democrats, meanwhile, want to focus on abortion.

Trump, of course, appointed three Supreme Court justices who later overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protected a woman’s right to choose abortion. Trump has repeatedly said he was proud that Roe was defeated. But aware that such a view isn’t popular among many women, he has tried to moderate his stance on the divisive issue.

Harris won’t make that easy. Stating the obvious, as a woman, she is positioned to be a much more effective messenger on the issue than Biden was. And Trump can’t afford to lose many more female voters.

There will, of course, be an obvious gender dynamic on stage Tuesday night.

The candidates — who have never met in person before — will be expected to stay behind their podiums on Tuesday night. But Republicans are hopeful Trump will avoid any other provocations like pointing, yelling or otherwise approaching Harris in a way that might be off-putting to suburban women or other swing voters.

Harris, too, will face unique challenges related to her race and gender as voters consider whether to make her the nation’s first female president. Some voters still say they’re not comfortable with the idea. If she comes across as angry, she risks playing into racist tropes about Black women.

While the gender dynamic looms, do not underestimate the significance of their age difference, either.

Harris is almost two decades younger than the 78-year-old Trump. Age was viewed as a political advantage for Trump when he was facing the 81-year-old Biden, but the situation is now reversed against the 59-year-old Harris. If he wins, Trump would be the oldest U.S. president ever elected.

FILE - Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., participates in the vice presidential debate with Vice President Mike Pence, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Aug. 17, 2024, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

In this combination photo, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a debate, Oct. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a debate, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo)

The Latest: Harris and Trump are prepping for the debate but their strategies are vastly different

The Latest: Harris and Trump are prepping for the debate but their strategies are vastly different