CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blamed the opposition’s presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, for the post-election violence unleashed across the nation.
“I hold you responsible, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, for the criminals, for the injured, for the dead, for the destruction,” the president said in a message broadcast to the nation during a joint meeting of the Council of State and the Defense Council.
The president also announced the creation of a fund to aid victims of the violence.
Venezuelan authorities have arrested 749 people for participating in violent riots following Sunday’s presidential elections, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said.
Those arrested face charges of “incitement, obstructing public roads, hate crimes ... resisting arrest and, in the most serious cases, terrorism,” the attorney general said at a press conference.
According to Saab, as a result of the violence, 48 military and police officers have been injured, some by gunshots, and a military officer in northern Aragua state was killed.
Authorities have verified that far-right groups have been using minors and people under the influence of drugs in riots in various cities in Venezuela.
Also on Tuesday, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil announced that the Venezuelan government has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Peru.
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has decided to sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of Peru, on the basis of Article 45 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,” Gil said on social media platform X.
Gil’s announcement followed statements by his Peruvian counterpart, Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea, who said, “Peru will not accept the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people,” referring to the country’s presidential election.
“We are forced to make this decision after the reckless declarations of the Peruvian foreign minister that ignore the will of the Venezuelan people and our constitution,” the Venezuelan diplomat added.