The opposition parties want to have protests about the presidential election

Venezuela’s opposition has called for protests around the world on August 17 to support its claim to victory in the country’s presidential election.

President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the government-controlled election commission, which gave him a third consecutive term in office.

The opposition party says its candidate, Edmundo González, is the real winner, and has asked the commission to release detailed information from the polling stations.

The call was sponsored by the European Union and the US while most Latin American countries have so far joined in recognizing Mr Maduro as the winner of last month’s vote.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado posted a video on social media where she said Venezuelans should “take to the streets” around the world on Saturday August 17 in support of her party’s claim to victory.

“Let’s shout together so that the world supports our victory and respects the truth and popular sovereignty,” he said on Sunday.

His party published data posted online shortly after the July 28 election saying it proved Mr González had won by a wide margin.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there is “overwhelming evidence” that Edmundo González won the majority of the vote.

However, Maduro’s government still insists that the result announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is full of its allies, is the only legitimate one.

Mr. Maduro He said he would publish the vote countbut he is not sure when.

He accused the opposition of producing false evidence to dispute the election result and said the US was behind what he described as an attempted coup.

Mr González, who replaced Ms Machado as a member of the opposition after she was barred from running for office, called for protests across the country and around the world in support of “truth”.

Both were in hiding – Ms Machado wrote in the Wall Street Journal that she feared for her “life” and “liberty”.

The government said Ms. Machado must be arrested.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Venezuela and other Latin American countries after the official vote result was rejected.

The government says more than 2,000 people have been arrested, some of them suspected of “terrorism”.

Some opposition figures have been caught in the past few weeks.

María Oropeza, the campaign coordinator for the opposition coalition Vente Venezuela, broadcast her arrest live on Instagram.

In the video, a loud noise can be heard in the background as he tells his fans that he has done nothing wrong. Venezuelan military officials then entered his door and the video went black.

Members of the security forces arrested Freddy Superlano and Roland Carreño – both of whom worked for the Popular Will opposition party – and Ricardo Estévez, a technical adviser to the same opposition party as Ms Oropeza.

Last week, Mr. González refused to appear in the country’s Supreme Court after it called all the presidential candidates to audit the controversial vote.

He later said he would risk his freedom and “the will of the Venezuelan people” by going.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which the opposition sees as aligned with President Maduro, said on Saturday it was continuing to review the election and that its decision would be “final and binding.”