After apparent efforts to steal the election, the president sent forces to round people up in ‘Operation knock-knock’

Cristina Ramírez was readying her sofa bed in Buenos Aires for the arrival of her friend visiting from Venezuela when she received a text message suggesting Edni López could be delayed. Officials in Caracas airport had stopped her, apparently over an issue with her passport.

Four days later, López remains under the detention of the Venezuelan authorities and her family grows increasingly worried by the minute that the university professor could be caught up in a brutal crackdown on protests over Nicolás Maduro’s apparent efforts to steal the presidential election.

Edmundo González and María Corina Machado call on officials to ‘join the side of the people’ after Maduro enforces post-election crackdown

Venezuela’s opposition leaders, who are widely believed to have beaten Nicolás Maduro in last week’s disputed presidential election, have urged the police and armed forces to abandon the strongman leader and his “despicable interests”.

In an open letter to Venezuelan security forces, Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado claimed they had won an “avalanche” victory over Maduro in the 28 July vote – a conclusion supported by analyses of election data carried out by the Associated Press and the Washington Post and which a growing number of western governments have also reached.

Maduro told troops he is ‘willing to do anything’ to protect his ‘revolution’ amid growing criticism of crackdown on opposition

The Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro has vowed to “pulverise” the latest challenge to his rule and told troops he is “willing to do anything” to protect his “revolution” amid growing criticism of the crackdown that followed last week’s disputed election.

Maduro says more than 2,000 people have been arrested in the days since the 28 July vote while human rights groups say at least 22 people have been killed.

Tens of thousands gather in Caracas defying crackdown by president to hear speech by María Corina Machado

Huge crowds have gone back on to the streets of Venezuela’s cities to continue their campaign against President Nicolás Maduro’s alleged attempt to steal last week’s election and denounce his intensifying crackdown on opposition supporters.

Maduro said 2,000 people had been arrested and would face “maximum punishment”.

Protests seen around country after results appear to dash opposition hopes of ending quarter century of chavista rule

• ‘We are longing for change’: Venezuela election sparks pots and pans protest

Nicolás Maduro’s claim of victory in Venezuela’s presidential election has brought the South American country to a hazardous standoff, with his thwarted opponents accusing him of rigging the election to remain in power, and many leaders in the region and beyond questioning the veracity and transparency of the vote.

Late on Monday, street protests were reported across the capital and all around the country, including in the states of Falcón, where demonstrators were filmed tearing down a statue of Hugo Chávez, and Portuguesa, where footage showed a group vandalizing a propaganda billboard featuring a photograph of Maduro and a slogan promising “More Changes and Transformation”.

Washington says it has ‘serious concerns’ about result, while president of Uruguay says it is open secret Maduro would win ‘whatever real results were’

Among the many international figures weighing in on the situation in Venezuela was the US vice president, Kamala Harris.

“The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Despite the many challenges, we will continue to work toward a more democratic, prosperous, and secure future for the people of Venezuela,” she said.

More than a thousand international observers have taken part in the Venezuelan election. The people have spoken and their will should be respected. The right only goes along with democracy when it wins and that is unacceptable.

Nicolás Maduro faces calls to publish transparent breakdown of vote but allies hail his apparent victory

• Venezuela election live – latest updates

Nicolás Maduro’s apparent re-election as Venezuela’s president has been met with scepticism, suspicion and calls for a transparent and detailed breakdown of the vote in Sunday’s controversial poll.

Although the results, released by the government-controlled electoral authority, were immediately hailed by Maduro’s allies in Latin America, they drew a guarded and often accusatory response from others in the region and farther afield.

Result with 80% of votes is immediately challenged by opposition and several governments

Nicolás Maduro has been declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election by the government-controlled electoral authority – a result that appeared to dash opposition hopes of ending his authoritarian, socialist rule. It was immediately challenged by rivals and several governments in the region and beyond.

After a six-hour delay in releasing the results of Sunday’s poll prompted international concern, Venezuela’s electoral council claimed Maduro had won with 51.21% of votes compared with 44.2% for his rival, the former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia.

Head of security for María Corina Machado detained weeks before election in string of arrests of opposition staffers

Less than two weeks before Venezuela’s presidential election, the head of security for a key opposition figure has been arrested, further raising concerns that the country will not see a fair contest on 28 July, when Nicolás Maduro will seek a third term.

María Corina Machado, the opposition’s outspoken figurehead, wrote on X that her security chief, Milciades Ávila, had been detained early on Wednesday, the latest in string of arrests of opposition activists and staffers.

Edmundo González Urrutia, who has never before run for office, hopes for a more ‘democratic and peaceful country’

The soft-spoken septuagenarian who could be on the brink of leading Venezuela into a new political era has promised to build a country of prosperity, democracy and peace if he is elected president, and vowed to govern for all citizens – including supporters of his authoritarian rival Nicolás Maduro.

Retired diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia is leading the polls ahead of the South American country’s 28 July presidential election, despite never having sought elected office and, until recently, being unknown to voters.