The governor of the state of Táchira, Freddy Alirio Bernal Rosales, in Venezuela, announced this Friday morning (10), that the country’s border with Colombia would be closed in the region.
In the video published on social media, Rosales declared that the border would remain closed “from 5 am (local time) this Friday until 5 pm on Monday (13)”.
“We have received information about international conspiracies to disturb the peace of Venezuelans in this border region,” he reported. “For this reason, following President Maduro’s instructions, we closed the borders with Colombia.”
The governor highlighted that they have “absolute control of the State” and seek to guarantee the country’s security and peace.
A CNN contacted the Federal Police and the Brazilian Army for a position on the borders between Brazil and Venezuela, and is awaiting positioning.
Maduro prepares for third term
This Friday’s announcement comes hours before the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro, who will assume a third term as president.
The Chavista leader is expected to participate in an inauguration ceremony, despite many countries around the world presidential elections last July.
Maduro and Edmundo González, the opposition candidate, claimed victory in the presidential elections held on July 28.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, a Chavismo-backed body, formally declared Maduro the winner without providing a vote count.
The opposition contested and released results collected across the country, saying they proved González won by a landslide.
Thousands of Venezuelans protested the results shortly after the vote, demanding transparency.
Many marched in the streets and clashed with the police.
Venezuela’s government responded by launching a massive crackdown on the country’s opposition movement, arresting more than two thousand people, including minors, in the first week after the elections.
Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor’s Office subsequently issued a , prompting him to flee the country and his fellow opposition leader, María Corina Machado, to go into hiding.
Understand the crisis in Venezuela
The Venezuelan opposition and the majority of the international community do not recognize the official results of the July 28 presidential elections, announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, which give victory to Nicolás Maduro with more than 50% of the votes.
The CNE results were never corroborated with the release of electoral records that detail the number of votes per polling table.
The opposition, in turn, published the minutes that it says it received from its party inspectors and that would give victory by almost 70% of the votes to former diplomat Edmundo González, an ally of María Corina Machado, an opposition leader prevented from running.
Chavismo claims that 80% of the documents released by the opposition are falsified. Maduro’s allies, however, do not show any electoral records.
The Venezuelan Public Ministry, in turn, initiated an investigation against González for publishing the minutes, alleging usurpation of electoral power functions.
The opponent was summoned three times to give testimony about the publication of the minutes and ended up taking refuge in Spain at the beginning of September, after having an arrest warrant issued against him.
Several opponents have been arrested since the beginning of the electoral process in Venezuela. Only after the July 28 election, at least 2,400 people were arrested and 24 died, according to human rights organizations.
