After a series of violations by the National Electoral Council, it remains unclear whether the presidential elections of July 28, 2024 gave Nicolás Maduro the job he sought: President of the Republic elected for the third time. But the elections certainly gave him a role for which he will go down in history: the main spokesman for his human rights violations.

Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s office has been investigating the Venezuelan state since 2021 for possible crimes against humanity committed mainly during the 2014, 2017 and 2019 protests, the Maduro administration’s case has been aimed at dismissing these charges, even filing appeals to the highest international court to halt the process.

In 2019, in an attempt to shed the label of a human rights violator and in his usual denial strategy, Maduro declared that “there are no prisoners for political views in Venezuela.” But that position is behind him. This is evident in the president’s own speech before, during, and after the disputed elections of June 28, 2024. In the days leading up to the election, he sent signals in his narrative when he threatened a “bloodbath” if the opposition won.

Nicolás Maduro, who woke up on July 29, the day after the elections, was more direct and open in his repressive messages. He did not hesitate to say that he had jailed more than 1,200 people for protesting against his government. And he added: “…we are going to get another 1,000 (people),” as if that were a goal to be achieved. He also warned that those detained for demonstrating would be sent to maximum-security prisons such as Tocuyito and Tocorón, which until September 2023 were the cradle and bunker of the feared Aragua Train, declared a transnational criminal organization by the United States.

Since the election, Maduro has also openly admitted on national television that he has ordered the “re-education” of opponents sent to maximum-security prisons, laughingly admitting that he expects them to perform forced labor (“building roads”). He then uploads videos with yellow subtitles and horror-movie background music to his social media to leave no doubt.
On the fourth day after the protests began, the politician proudly showed on national television and in front of international correspondents those detained in protests against his government, wearing blue uniforms, military fatigues and shaved heads, shouting “Chavez is alive. The fighting continues.”
In addition, Maduro also used his social networks to record his narratives and his repressive actions. On the night of July 31, he published a video in which he spoke out against the result announced by the CNE, which considered him the winner of the elections.

The video ends with Maduro telling the uniformed men that he is counting on them and admitting to fighting. Finally, they all join him in raising their fists and shouting, “Never traitors, always loyal.” The GNB is accused of being the security service responsible for the deaths of two protesters.

Rafael Uzcategui, a human rights activist and director of the organization “Laboratory of Peace”, has been monitoring the president’s actions and reported this on social media. This must be clearly emphasized. He does not do this formally, so as not to be accused of opposing “Caracazo 2”.

In a narrative also marked by disinformation, Maduro, who has already declared himself the spokesman for his repression before Venezuela and the world, still shows flashes of his former negative nature. He has claimed that more than 20 protesters killed in the days following the elections are actors, and that the blood spilled on the streets of Venezuela is in fact tomato sauce. The republic’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, has unconditionally supported these accusations, although after careful verification it was established that the man nicknamed “Pimpina,” whose death they tried to deny, did indeed die in the context of the protests, as his relatives confirmed.