World
Venezuelan official decries 'grave lack of transparency and veracity' in election results
A Venezuelan electoral official has denounced what he calls a “grave lack of transparency and veracity” in last month’s election results, rebuking authorities who declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner despite strong evidence to the contrary presented by his opponents and doubts from several foreign governments.
Juan Carlos Delpino is one of five members of the National Electoral Council, or CNE in Spanish, and the only one who prior to the vote had shown a willingness to go against the wishes of Maduro’s government.
On Monday, he published a letter on social media detailing several alleged irregularities before and on the day of the July 28 election. He said polling centers were slow to report results from automated voting machines while several opposition volunteers were banished, in violation of electoral rules guaranteeing the transparent transmission of tallies to CNE headquarters.
Delpino said he was informed that the hourslong delay was caused by a supposed hacking of the CNE platform and that only 58% of results had been collected. He said he decided in protest not to join his fellow rectors in monitoring the vote-counting from the CNE data hub or attending the midnight press conference when CNE President Elvis Amoroso, a ruling party loyalist, declared Maduro the winner.
VENEZUELANS WILL KEEP FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY. THEY HAVE NO CHOICE
“I deeply regret that the results don’t serve the Venezuelan people, that they don’t help resolve our differences or promote national unity but instead fuel doubts in the majority of Venezuelans and the international community,” Delpino wrote.
Delpino, an electoral expert close to one of Venezuela’s traditional opposition parties, was named to the CNE by the National Assembly controlled by Maduro’s allies last year after several predecessors were removed.
His letter comes as Maduro doubles down on assertions he won reelection by more than 1 million votes. His government has defied calls from the U.S., European Union and even leftist allies from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to release voting records that would back such claims.
FILE – Officials from the National Electoral Council (CNE), from left, Acme Nogal, Juan Delpino, Antonio Meneces, Elvis Hidrobo Amoroso, Rosalba Gil, and Carlos Quintero, hold a private meeting at the CNE headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Meanwhile, the opposition has published online what appear to be authentic tallies from 80% of polling machines showing that its candidate, Edmundo González, won by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
Last week, the Venezuelan Supreme Court certified the results and said voting tallies published online by the opposition were forged. Attorney General Tarek William Saab ordered González to testify this week in a criminal investigation over alleged attempts to spread panic in the South American nation by contesting the results.
González on Sunday indicated he had no intention of complying with the order, saying his due process rights and Venezuela’s constitution were being trampled and the only authority he is accountable to are voters. He repeated calls for Maduro to release the voting records from about 30,000 machines nationwide so the results can be independently verified by international experts.
“Venezuela is living moments of uncertainty and unease due to your efforts to violate the desire for change,” González said, addressing Maduro directly in a video published on social media. “Releasing the voting tallies is the guarantee of peace.”
Former diplomat González and his chief backer, opposition powerhouse María Corina Machado, went into hiding after the election as security forces arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down on demonstrations throughout the country protesting the results.
The two have called for Venezuelans to take to the streets on Wednesday to commemorate a month since their purported victory at the polls.
Meanwhile, mothers of several people arrested by security forces gathered Monday outside a high security prison in central Venezuela where dozens of detainees have started to arrive as a result of a transfer order. Holding signs that read “They Aren’t Terrorists” and “Free our Children,” several said their loved ones were arrested far away from any demonstrations against Maduro.
Eliana Perez said her two adult children were coming home from work and sitting inside a car when they were arrested at a police checkpoint.
“There were no traffic restrictions, no curfew,” said Perez while holding back tears. “They are in agony because they’ve never had any problems with the law before.”
Delpino, in an interview with The New York Times published Monday, said he too had gone into hiding.
His letter also highlighted what he called a number of irregular decisions by the CNE including a lack of meetings prior to the vote that made it difficult to set clear rules on the participation of campaign poll workers, international observers and millions of Venezuelans living abroad.
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The United Kingdom on Monday blamed an Iran-linked proxy group for a string of antisemitic arson attacks targeting British Jewish sites, prompting the government to ban Tehran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and impose sweeping new powers to crack down on foreign-backed sabotage.
British officials said the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right (IMCR) publicly claimed responsibility for seven attacks this year targeting Jewish and Israeli-linked locations, as well as a Persian-language media outlet critical of Iran’s government. According to the U.K. government, members of the IRGC’s elite Qods Force were “almost certainly” directing the group’s operations across Europe.
The attacks included fires at synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and other Jewish community sites in London. No injuries were reported.
DESANTIS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO USE NEW STATE LAW TO TARGET DOZENS OF ALLEGED TERRORIST GROUPS
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosts a reception with the Jewish community to discuss efforts to tackle antisemitism, at Downing Street, in London, July 13, 2026. (Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool)
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new measures send a clear message to foreign adversaries seeking to sow violence.
“We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets,” Starmer said. “Anyone acting on behalf of those who threaten our national security should be in no doubt that there is no place for you in Britain.”
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer discusses efforts to tackle antisemitism at Downing Street in London, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Photo via AP)
If Parliament approves the designations later this week, anyone carrying out acts of sabotage — including arson — on behalf of the IRGC, IMCR or Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps could face life imprisonment. Supporting or assisting the groups could carry prison sentences of up to 14 years.
The British government said the new authorities, created under the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026, will make it easier for prosecutors to secure convictions because they will no longer have to prove a direct foreign government connection in every case.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood accused both Tehran and Moscow of relying on criminal proxies to conduct hostile operations inside the United Kingdom.
“Iran and Russia are using proxies and thugs to do their dirty work on our shores,” Mahmood said. “I have rapidly designated three groups so those working for them will be tracked down and put behind bars.”
ISRAEL FORTIFIES BORDER WITH JORDAN AS IRAN SEEKS NEW TERROR PATH
The government said IMCR emerged online earlier this year and has also claimed responsibility for attacks on synagogues in Belgium and the Netherlands. British intelligence officials say Iran-backed proxy groups have increasingly recruited members of criminal organizations to carry out sabotage, intimidation and physical attacks across Europe, often targeting Jewish communities and Iranian dissidents.
Charred remains of ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, which were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in London, March 23, 2026. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
According to the U.K., MI5 identified at least 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots against individuals in Britain over the past year. The government has already sanctioned more than 550 Iranian-linked individuals and entities and has pledged £250 million ($334,662,500) over three years to strengthen security for Jewish communities, including increased protection for synagogues, schools and community centers.
Britain also designated Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps, saying the group acts as a proxy for Russian military intelligence by recruiting individuals online to conduct sabotage, arson and other hostile operations.
The crackdown comes just weeks after two Romanian men were sentenced to prison for stabbing a journalist working for a Persian-language television station in London, an attack a British judge said was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state.
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Iran did not immediately comment on Monday’s announcement, according to The Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The European Union has sanctioned VK Company, which dominates Russia’s online sphere, for colluding with the Kremlin to identify critics of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and curtail access to independent sources of information.
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VK Company runs VKontakte, the country’s most popular social media site. Often described as “the Russian Facebook”, it has an estimated 70 million users.
The decision, taken on Monday by foreign ministers, points the finger at VK Company and an associated firm for developing and managing Max App, which is state-backed and comes pre-installed on all phones and tablets sold in Russia.
Citing experts, Brussels argues that Max App has “extensive surveillance features” that Russian authorities use to track online communications, gather data, monitor address books, identify user location and install autonomous updates.
The imposition of Max App has helped the state crack down on competitors, such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, and on VPNs, the private networks that Russians employ to bypass increasingly stringent state restrictions on the Internet.
“VK has cooperated with Russian authorities in their repressive actions, including by providing them with data concerning users of its services who posted content criticising Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, or other content banned by the authorities,” the legal text says.
“VK has also participated in the government-ordered ban on the use of VPNs, through which Russian internet users could previously access independent content.”
Monday’s decision introduces an asset freeze and prohibits EU companies from making funds available to VK Company. In a statement to Russian state-owned media outlet TASS, the firm said that its applications and services remained “available to users as normal”.
Besides VK Company, the EU also sanctioned Citadel, VAS Experts and Norsi-Trans, three companies that provide hardware and software for the so-called System of Operative Investigative Measures that Russian authorities use to track online communication and target journalists, opposition figures, minority groups and ordinary citizens.
The restrictions were adopted under a special regime dedicated to punishing human rights violations.
Separately, the EU sanctionednine individuals and four entities accused of carrying out “malicious” cyber attacks against several member states.
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