Venezuela opposition leaders urge army and police to abandon Nicolás Maduro

Venezuela’s opposition leaders, who are widely believed to have beaten Nicolás Maduro in last week’s disputed presidential election, have urged the police and armed forces to abandon the strongman leader and his “despicable interests”.

In an open letter to Venezuelan security forces, Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado claimed they had won an “avalanche” victory over Maduro in the 28 July vote – a conclusion supported by analyses of election data carried out by the Associated Press and the Washington Post and which a growing number of western governments have also reached.

Hours after the letter was posted on social media, attorney general Tarek Saab announced he was launching a criminal probe against González and Machado for inciting police and military officials to break the law.

In a statement posted on X, Tarek said the pair had “falsely announced a winner of the presidential election other than the one proclaimed by the National Electoral Council, the only body qualified to do so” and that they had openly incited “police and military officials to disobey the laws”.

After being declared the winner by Venezuela’s government-controlled electoral authority, Maduro has launched a harsh crackdown on political opponents since his claim to victory sparked two days of protests and turmoil. More than 2,000 people have been imprisoned, many on terrorism charges, while human rights groups say at least 22 people have been killed by security forces or pro-government gangs.

On Monday, González and Machado accused the incumbent of waging a “brutal offensive” against opposition leaders and supporters with the “ridiculous intention of hiding the truth” about González’s landslide and stealing the election to secure a third term.

“We appeal to the conscience of military and police officials to put themselves on the side of the people and of their own families. With this massive violation of human rights, the top brass is aligning itself with Maduro and his despicable interests,” they wrote, urging police and soldiers “to prevent the regime’s lack of restraint against the people”.

“Maduro has staged a coup … and he wants to make you his accomplices,” González and Machado added.

Related: Nicolás Maduro vows to ‘pulverise’ challenge to his rule after disputed Venezuela election

Their letter came less than 24 hours after Maduro appeared before the cameras with top military officials and heavily armed troops in a clear attempt to project military unity and strength. “Always loyal! Never traitors!” they shouted repeatedly during the ceremony, clutching riot shields and rifles.

Amid growing criticism of his post-election crackdown, Maduro vowed to “pulverise” the latest challenge to his rule and told troops he was “willing to do anything” to protect the “Bolivarian revolution” he inherited from Hugo Chávez after his premature 2013 death.

“We are confronting, defeating, containing and pulverising an attempted coup in Venezuela,” Venezuela’s president told members of the Bolivarian national guard, a branch of the military that has been involved in the clampdown. “I am willing to do anything and I am counting on you to ensure order, law and the constitution prevail.”

For all the opposition’s appeals to the military, Venezuela specialists say they have yet to detect any hint that troops or political rivals from within the chavista movement might be planning to turn on Maduro.

Carlos Lizarralde, the author of Venezuela’s Collapse: The Long Story of How Things Fell Apart, said: “Right now there is a real deadlock. Two sides are staring at each other, but there will be no solution unless the military is involved.

“Every single regime change in Venezuela since 1830 has had the military involved as a protagonist or as a supporting actor. There has never been in the history of the country any kind of fundamental change without the military involved in some way … For better or for worse, they hold the keys to the next stage,” added Lizarralde, who, for now, saw no sign of the military top brass switching sides, despite widespread popular anger at Maduro’s perceived theft of the election.

“People are furious. A vast majority of the population across the country demands change. But somehow the government remains in power,” Lizarralde said.

“Many underestimate how empowered the chavista government feels it is,” he continued. “I’m afraid [the government] think that it is going to be tough. They know they are playing their weakest hand, but they still have military and governmental control over the country.”