During the month of July, the
Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS: Observatorio Venezolano de Conflictividad Social) documented 1,311 protests throughout Venezuela; 70% were on 29 or 30 July. OVCS said most of the protests occurred in poor areas, and involved "harassment, arbitrary arrests, threats and political retaliation against leaders and sympathizers of opposition political parties". On the same day, Julio Valerio García, a citizen of
Táchira, was shot dead by a group of motorcyclists. There were also four injured that day. Neither Machado nor González called for protests, but instead asked people to be present at the voting centers until they had records of the votes cast. On 28 July, which would have been the 70th birthday of
Hugo Chávez, nine statues of him were brought down by protesters.
29 July: After government announcement of results On 29 July, there were
cacerolazos (pot banging as a form of protest) throughout
Caracas. The protests began around noon; in Caracas, demonstrations were reported in Isaías Medina Angarita in Catia, Ruperto Lugo and Ruiz Pineda, as well as on the
Caracas-La Guaira highway; in Aragua, they were reported in Cagua; in a sector of the state of Falcón, people also took to the streets. Protests were reported in various popular areas of the capital, especially in several sectors of Petare such as the San Blas or La Dolorita neighborhoods. A strong police presence was also reported in the capital. In
Margarita Island, hundreds of civilians occupied 4 de Mayo Avenue in
Porlamar, tearing down Maduro's political banners. The Bolivarian National Police and the National Guard approached the site to repress the protesters. Protests continued on La Auyama Avenue as protesters tried to tear down a statue of
Hugo Chávez before being intercepted again by national officials, who fired pellets and tear gas. The protesters responded with stones, sticks and Molotov cocktails. , Carabobo Maduro campaign posters were torn down throughout the country. In
Coro, some protesters tore down a statue which depicted the late president Hugo Chávez. The Caracas–La Guaira highway was blocked by protesters from the El Limón sector.
Europa Press reported protests in Petare, Altamira, Chacaíto, Bellas Artes, La Vega, El Valle, Catia, and La Candelaria, as well as concentrations on the Petare–Guarenas highway, specifically in the parish of Caucagüita in the Sucre Municipality, Miranda state. According to the
Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS), 183 protests were recorded in 20 of the 23 states, and in some of them 5 statues of Hugo Chávez were torn down or destroyed. During the 29 July protests, 2 people were killed (including a 15-year-old boy), 7 protesters were injured, and there were 3 unconfirmed gunshot-related deaths. 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.
30 July: Mobilization to the United Nations offices 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. Citizen assemblies were held in other cities, including
Barquisimeto,
Valencia,
Maracay,
San Fernando de Apure, and
Los Teques. Machado and González, from the demonstration in
Los Palos Grandes,
Caracas, announced that they had recovered and digitalized 80% of the vote tallies.
Colectivos joined state security agencies in the repression against protesters. In
Punto Fijo, protesters set fire to the Carirubana mayor's office and the PSUV regional headquarters at midnight. 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. Protests continued in different parts of the country. The
Venezuelan Armed Forces expressed "absolute loyalty and unconditional support" to Nicolás Maduro, according to the
Venezuelan Minister of Defense,
general-in-chief and ally of
Chavismo,
Vladimir Padrino López. Until late at night, clashes with firearms between military, police and
colectivos, against civilians and armed groups in
Petare were reported. By 30 July, a total of 12 people had died and more than 750 were arrested.
31 July: Detainees increase 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. This action has been strongly criticized by the opposition, amid growing tensions and widespread condemnation of electoral fraud by the national and international community. Likewise, the TSJ has been criticized for its lack of independence and its closeness to the Maduro regime.
Tarek William Saab announced at a press conference that the number of detainees rose to 1,062, calling opposition protesters "terrorists." He also stated the possibility of requesting an arrest warrant against "intellectual authors" in the demonstrations. The attorney general stated that protesters have simulated "punishable acts" during the protests and declared that the wounds are simulated with "ketchup" by the protesters themselves.
1–8 August: Machado in hiding 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. The Unitary Platform called for a display of support for the election result by families throughout the country despite repression and arrests of demonstrators. Machado came out of hiding to appear at the demonstration in
Las Mercedes, Caracas on 3 August. and abroad in
Madrid,
Miami,
Bogotá, and
Buenos Aires. On the same date, international hacker group
Anonymous declared cyberwarfare against the Venezuelan government. It was reported that the group had hacked 325 government sites in one day as well as launching a
doxing campaign against
Chavista officials. Among the hacked websites, Anonymous infiltrated the website of
the presidency and
Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas (CICPC) along with a database that belonged to the PSUV. 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.
17 August: Great World Protest for the Truth Within Venezuela and in cities across the world, Venezuelans demonstrated on 17 August in support of the opposition's claim to González's election win. Machado had called for the rally—the Great World Protest for the Truth (Gran Protesta Mundial por la Verdad) . In Caracas, the opposition demonstration was centered near
Petare, in front of the Centro Comercial Lider mall in the urbanization. In
Zulia, witnesses reported that priest Elvis Cabarca was detained while leading a group praying the Rosary within a chapel. Hundreds of people protested in
Barquisimeto,
Maracaibo,
San Cristóbal and
Valencia. Demonstrators in Caracas chanted "we are not afraid!" in response to Maduro's crackdown on dissent,
Operation Tun Tun, with mass arrests that generated fear. A 52-year-old protestor told Reuters: "We have already been through the worst, we don't have any more fear. My daughter died because there were no medical supplies in the university hospital. I have nothing to lose, but I want a future for my grandchildren." Machado came out of hiding, and stated on X, "Now comes a new stage. We have to stand firm and united. They try to scare us, to divide us, to paralyze us, but they cannot." With more than 7.7 million
Venezuelans residing abroad, the protests aimed to "mobilize ... supporters worldwide" and gain recognition of the election in other countries in support of González and against Maduro. Demonstrators in countries outside of Venezuela sought also to support Venezuelans within the country who feared "speaking against Maduro and his allies during a brutal repression campaign", according to the Associated Press. with attendance estimated at 15,000. From the demonstration in Portugal, Caracas native
Franco De Vita published a video proclaiming, "The truth cannot be hidden; this is what the people have said and this is what the people want". 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. had planned demonstrations. Protests were held in countries including: • Americas and the Caribbean – Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the United States, Japan, Germany, According to the
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV—of which Maduro serves as president), "the Venezuelan people overflowed with love and joy in all states of the country" in the Great National March for Peace and in support of President Nicolás Maduro (Gran Marcha Nacional por la Paz y en apoyo al President Nicolás Maduro).
Globovisión (
sanctioned by the US) wrote that the large movement to support Maduro's victory began early before ending at
Miraflores Palace (the presidential palace) as a celebration "in rejection of far-right fascism". Globovision says that the celebrations occurred in 100 Venezuelan cities and comprised 10,000
motorizados (motorcycles in Venezuelan Spanish).
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". Speaking in front of Miraflores, Maduro mocked González as hiding in a cave and plotting to flee to Miami. With respect to Machado, he stated that "she deflated, she failed, they don't even want her in the opposition". Machado came out of hiding for this fourth organized rally speaking to a smaller group than at earlier protests. Maduro backers also held a rally the same day. Smaller protests against Maduro convened in San Cristobal, Barquisimeto, Valencia and
Puerto Ordaz; protests characterized by the Associated Press as "tiny" were held in other countries of Latin America.
8–10 September: González seeks asylum On 8 September, González left Venezuela to seek asylum in Spain. Upon his arrival in Madrid, he told the media that his exile was surrounded by pressure, coercion and threats and stated he would continue to fight from exile. After his departure, Machado stated the fight for freedom wouldn't end with González's departure and assured she would stay in Venezuela to fight with the people. Machado called for the Venezuelan diaspora in Spain to mobilize on 10 September in front of
Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid to demand recognition of González as President-elect of Venezuela, coordinated with the expected debate by the
Spanish Congress of Deputies about recognizing González's election victory.
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. The Spanish Congress—without the support of
Pedro Sanchez—voted the next day to recognize González as the legitimate President-elect of Venezuela.
11 September: Rally for political prisoners PROVEA, a Venezuelan human rights NGO, called for a rally on 11 September beginning at Plaza Bolívar in
Chacao,
Miranda and ending at the Brazilian embassy in
La Castellana to demand an end to repression, and pressure the Brazilian government to intercede with the release of 2,500 political prisoners.
28 September: Two-months election anniversary Another mobilization has been called on 28 September in the wake of two-months anniversary of the election. in Carabobo, several banners were installed in place that were once a voting station for the 28 July election. Unlike the previous protest, Machado instructed the protesters to swarm in a smaller groups to read the election results of each voting stations, and upload their gatherings to social media. Protests were also held by diaspora community abroad. The protest are notably held in cities like Miami, Madrid, and Buenos Aires. During the Madrid mobilisation, president-elect Edmundo González joined the rally for the first time since 3 August.
3 October: Protest of families of detainees On 3 October, families and parents of detained teenagers gathered in front of
Supreme Tribunal of Justice building in Caracas to demand the safety of teenagers who are detained by the regime. Notable condemnation of persecution against teenagers were voiced by the Unitary Platform and
Networks Party.
2025 9 January: Eve of inauguration and resumption of mass mobilisation After few months of swarm mobilisation, the Unitary Platform has again called for mass mobilisation in every states in the eve of presidential inauguration before Edmundo González planned return from
Dominican Republic to Venezuela. While the movement was responded with repression, protesters managed to repel the National Guards which are reported in some cities such as
San Cristóbal, Táchira and
Valencia, Carabobo Clashes between protesters and National Guards was also reported in
Maracaibo. The protest also marked the return of the Unitary Platform leaders, María Corina Machado and Juan Pablo Guanipa, after months of hiding. Machado was detained following the protest; she was later released and announced on X that she was okay and in a safe place.
10 January: Inauguration day After Maduro was sworn in behind closed doors, there were some protests reported in the country. Cacerolazos were reportedly heard in Petare and Catia neighbourhood of Caracas. In
Bejuma, Carabobo, local residents started to block the national highway. 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. In a separate statement, Edmundo González addressed the nation saying that he will return to Venezuela no matter what and asked the military to prepare a secure condition for transition. The
Communist Party of Venezuela also condemned the inauguration and call it "conspiracy of power against popular sovereignty". ==Crackdown ==