Maduro Continues Vice Grip on Power in Venezuela

The former governor of Mérida, Venezuela, Williams Dávila, was reportedly arrested by men dressed in civilian clothes on Thursday following his participation in a vigil for political prisoners jailed by President Nicolas Maduro's regime, according to opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado. Dávila is not only a former opposition governor but leader of the Acción Democrática political party, which itself is a member of Machado's opposition alliance known as the Unitary Platform, marking yet another arrest of Maduro's political rivals following the conclusion of this year's presidential election on July 29..Further Repression.The whereabouts of Dávila remains unknown since his arrest, a common fate of those arrested by Venezuelan security forces. Dávila was also not the only political arrested in recent hours. A former MP by the name of Américo De Grazia has also reportedly been arrested by members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), according to the former politician's daughter, María De Grazia. María states that the family has not been informed about their father's whereabouts but have managed to uncover that the former political has been sent to El Helicoid, a structure once intended to be a shopping mall but later converted to a prison administered by SEBIN..Former prisoners held in El Helicoid report that those held within the impromptu prison were victims of systematic torture by their jailers, while others recount an evidence storage room converted into a prison cell known as "Guantanamo," which held 50 prisoners without sunlight, water, or toilets.."No light, no water, no toilet, without sanitation and without beds," Rosmit Mantilla, a former prisoner who was arrested in 2014 during anti-government demonstrations, told BBC. "The walls were stained with blood and excrement.".Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the opposition alliance known as the Unitary Platform, released a statement to AFP detailing a deal from the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro in an effort to secure the peaceful transition of power to presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia on Friday. Machado announced the offer to the general public through a questionnaire sent to the opposition figurehead by AFP who contacted the former presidential candidate through members of her team willing to work with the news outlet..The deal "guarantees safe-conducts and incentives for the involved parties, in this case, the regime that was defeated in that presidential election," Machado told AFP. "Maduro has completely, absolutely lost legitimacy. All Venezuelans and the world know that Edmundo González won overwhelmingly and that Maduro is trying to impose the biggest fraud in the history of this country. But he won't succeed.".Likely, in an effort to assist this deal, the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, told CNN that he would promise political asylum for Maduro if he were to peacefully transfer power to the opposition within Venezuela. Mulino was one of the first countries to back Venezuela's opposition, withdrawing diplomatic staff from the country on the same day as the election's results were announced..Maduro has declined to negotiate with the opposition, according to AFP..A number of fellow nations, including Argentina, Chile, and Peru, have joined Panama in denouncing Maduro's victory. Following these three nations' support for the opposition, Maduro's regime expelled those nations' diplomatic staff, leading to a tense diplomatic crisis between Venezuela and Argentina due to the latter's housing of six Venezuelan asylees. Luckily, Brazil soon took over the diplomatic premises of all three nations, safeguarding the six asylees and taking on the embassies' responsibilities..Scrutiny over Venezuela's presidential election has only increased since its conclusion, with both the United States and Argentina fully endorsing González as the true victor in this year's election. This support is not unfounded, as the opposition has released 80 percent of all tally sheets from polling stations across the country which show a González victory by 67 percent of the vote. The CNE, which is controlled by Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), has failed to provide receipts showing Maduro's claimed victory. Instead, Maduro has opted to meet with the Supreme Court in an effort to further legitimize his rule over Venezuela for the next seven years..While Maduro attempts to legitimize his rule legally, the president has also taken action against those opposed to seven more years under the well established leader of Venezuela. The arrest of the two aforementioned political figures is part of a broader trend employed by Maduro to stifle any essence of resistance to the president's regime. Over 2,200 people have been detained since unrest broke out following election day, according to Maduro himself, while 24 have been killed, according to Provea, a Venezuelan human rights non-governmental organization..Maduro has not only targeted low-ranking members of the opposition, but the president's regime has turned its attention to the party leaders themselves, Machado and González. Following a call directed at the nation's military's lower enlisted and police officers by the pair, Venezuela's Prosecutor's Office announced an investigation has been opened into the pair for both their call to the armed forces and for questioning the election's results..This is not the only investigation into Machado herself, as Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced an investigation into Machado and two other opposition figures had been launched following an alleged cyberattack against the CNE launched from North Macedonia. This attack allegedly attempted to turn electronic votes from Maduro to González, which ultimately severely delayed vote counting. Following the announced investigation, Machado announced through an article published by the Wall Street Journal that she had entered hiding for fear of reprisals from the state.