[7][8][9][10] Following Elvis Amoroso's statements from the CNE claiming Maduro's victory in the early hours of 29 July, the majority opposition—organized around María Corina Machado and the Democratic Unitary Platform candidate, Edmundo González—and many countries denounced electoral fraud and have either recognized Gonzalez as president-elect or at a minimum called for audits.

[16] After forensic examination of substantive evidence given by the Venezuelan opposition, according to a CNN report, a Maduro victory was considered a "statistical improbability" by statisticians and political scientists.

[42] The Penal Forum issued a report where it counted 6 dead (among them a minor of 15 years of age), 132 wounded, 50 detained in different sectors of the country and three unconfirmed deaths by gunshots.

[43][44] The Unitary Platform called for a people's mobilization in front of the United Nations Development Programme office in Caracas to defend their election victory and where both Machado and González addressed the gathering.

[52] On the same night, armed militia group Tren del Llano was reported to be involved in a gun fight with the police, military, and the Colectivos in Valle de la Pascua, Guarico state.

[56] Maduro filed an appeal for constitutional protection before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), with the intention of legitimizing the election results in his favor.

[60] On 1 August, Machado published a letter in The Wall Street Journal, stating that she had gone in to hiding "fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro"; in the letter, she laid out the evidence she said she had from the vote tallies supporting PUD's win, and stated that Maduro had expelled witnesses from the polls, while the witnesses "protected the voter receipts with their lives throughout the night" of the elections.

[68] The Unitary Platform called for a candlelight vigil at the Plaza Los Palos Grandes in Chacao, Miranda on 8 August to demand the release of political prisoners who have been detained since 28 July.

[70] Machado had called for the rally—the Great World Protest for the Truth (Gran Protesta Mundial por la Verdad)[71]—to demonstrate "respect for popular sovereignty" and reinforce the 28 July victory.

[74] AFP reported that, early in the day, a "heavy security presence was taking shape" and that "two National Guard armored vehicles backed by about 40 motorcycle-mounted troops" were controlling access to Petare.

[87] In Miami, police estimated 8,000 attended the rally at Bayfront Park organized by the local Venezuelan and Cuban communities with performances planned by Willy Chirino, Arturo Sandoval, Amaury Gutiérrez and Danny Ocean.

[71] Protests were held in countries including:[89] The Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that "the ruling 'Chavista' movement ... also called demonstrations ... 'in support of the victory' of the president".

Eduardo Piñate led the celebrations in San Fernando de Apure; Globovisión states that he "highlighted that all of Venezuela repudiates fascism and the psychological operations of imperialism and the extreme right that has sold out to foreign interests".

[102] Aragua state governor, Karina Carpio, "called on the people not to retreat and maintain the legacy of Bolívar and Chávez to a free, independent and sovereign homeland".

[105][106] Machado came out of hiding for this fourth organized rally[3] and stated during her speech to the crowd in Caracas that no democratic countries recognize Maduro's victory and asked the Armed Forces to defend the constitution,[104] speaking to a smaller group than at earlier protests.

[113][114] Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez were among the hundreds who attended the rally in Madrid, where Carolina González Urrutia read a letter from her father in which he called on the international community to continue its efforts in Venezuela and vowed that he would not let Venezuelans down.

[131] As a reaction to the swearing in, Unitary Platform leader María Corina Machado explained what happened to her during the day before while acussing Maduro of having orchestrated an illegitimate coup and assured that de jure President Edmundo González will return to Venezuela as soon as the condition is safe.

[135] Prior to the 17 August Great World Protest for the Truth, France 24 reported that Maduro called for the "state to use an 'iron fist' [and] urged 'severe justice' for violence he blames on the opposition".

[135][140] Venezuela's counterintelligence agency, DGCIM used its social media accounts to warn that Operation Tun-Tun was just beginning, and set up a telephone line to gather reports about protesters, who Maduro officials refer to as traitors.

[141] A campaign worker for the opposition told The Washington Post that "security forces and the Maduro-supporting bikers known as colectivos appear to be targeting low-income areas that have previously been strongholds of government support".

[5] According to the Miami Herald, "activists have denounced that a number of the agents taking part in repressing opposition figures and protesters have Cuban accents", as "at least four passenger flights" have arrived from Cuba, according to local media.

[137] Maduro stated: "We're opening a new page in the app for all the Venezuelan population, so they can confidentially give me all the information about the delinquents who have threatened the people—attacked the people—so we can go after them and bring them to prompt justice.

[149] On 1 August, during the political crisis, the Maduro administration ordered the Argentine diplomatic mission to abandon the country within 72 hours, leaving six asylum seekers who were part of the opposition campaign in the embassy.

[153][154] Through her X (formerly Twitter) account, María Corina Machado expressed that "after the overwhelming and unappealable electoral victory that we Venezuelans achieved on 28 July, the regime's response is murder, kidnapping and persecution.

[16] Maduro also blamed the United States government, businessman Elon Musk and the UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, for wanting to "destabilize the country and take over Venezuela.

"[157][158] Maduro and the government accuse the Venezuelan opposition, represented by María Corina Machado, of being "fascist and criminal"[159] and vowed on 31 July that they would never take power.

The UN International Mission expressed "its deep concern about the violence and allegations of human rights violations reported in the country following Sunday's presidential election.

[162] In addition to AI, the signers of the statement were CIVICUS, Freedom House, International Commission of Jurists, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Washington Office on Latin America, World Organization Against Torture and others.

The signatories reminded that Article 68 of the Venezuelan Constitution requires the right of demonstrators to be protected, and encouraged the international community to document crimes committed in the post-electoral process to the United Nations and the ICC.

[168][169] The Permanent Council of the OAS met on 16 August and approved a resolution that called for the vote tallies to be protected and published, respect for the sovereignty of the election results, and emphasized the rights to basic freedoms without reprisals and arbitrary arrests.