The Breaker Times

Anthony is in hiding in this Colombian city on the border with Venezuela. He says he was targeted by paramilitary groups called “colectivos,” key enforcers for Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, after volunteering as an election observer for the opposition party. He fled here to Cúcuta, along with these other election workers, who all describe receiving similar threats. We agreed not to show their faces or use their full names for their safety and that of their families they left behind. All of their stories offer firsthand evidence of a post-election crackdown that has largely happened out of the public eye. These vote tallies that they and other observers collected were made public, showing that opposition candidate Edmundo González had actually won the majority vote. While many countries, including the United States, have raised doubts about the election results, Maduro continues to claim victory. He and his supporters are now targeting the opposition as terrorists, with threats in the form of phone messages and showing up at their homes. Anthony was working as a bread maker in Venezuela. The others, a chef, a salesman and an engineer. The Times reviewed evidence that corroborated their stories of being targeted as election observers. All of the men who had been targeted for their political activism before say the threats after this election felt more brazen and direct. Celso Barbosa fled Venezuela himself six years ago. He says these men were the first group of political exiles he helped escape from the country after the July elections. Barbosa recently attended a protest here in Colombia calling for Maduro to transition out of office. Meanwhile, Maduro has yet to release his electoral record, and González has now fled the country for Spain after a top court in Venezuela issued his arrest warrant. These men say that if Maduro is sworn in as president in January, others will soon be forced to flee the country as well.