Venezuelan senior officials threaten opposition leaders with jail, 'messing them up'

Two of the most recognizable and powerful men of the current Venezuelan government and the Chavismo moment overall, shared inflammatory speeches on Tuesday, as the country remains engulfed in protests after Sunday's controversial presidential elections.

Jorge Rodríguez and Diosdado Cabello took the podium at the National Assembly, in two impassioned speeches packed with threats aimed at opposition leader María Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.

Rodríguez, who's currently president of the National Assembly, was the first one to speak, saying that legal actions must be taken against opposition leaders. He specifically named Machado and González Urrutia as figures who should be imprisoned for their roles in what he described as a "fascist conspiracy:"

"With fascism, there is no compromise, only the application of the law. The Public Ministry must act, not just against criminals but their leaders, those who ordered and paid them. When I say leaders, I am not only referring to María Corina Machado, who must be imprisoned, but also to Edmundo González Urrutia, because he is the head of the fascist conspiracy attempting to take hold in Venezuela. That is the truth."

He further claimed that the opposition's supposed campaign command was actually a violent action command attempting to instigate a civil war. Rodríguez emphasized that fascism should not receive procedural benefits but rather the full severity of the law.

This pronouncement came shortly after María Corina Machado announced that the opposition had collected 82% of the station-level electoral results during a demonstration in Caracas. The numbers assert González's victory in the presidential election with a 3.5 million vote lead over the government, a far cry from the official announcement which gave Maduro a 51.2% to 44.2% victory.

Shortly after Rodriguez ended his speech, came Diosdado Cabello, the prominent Chavismo leader, who echoed his predecessor 's threats warning of imminent arrests for opposition leaders, including Machado and González, asserting the government had incriminating communications.

"They're the same people from other occasions, but now there's going to be a difference: the same people are going to have to face justice," said Cabello. He also added the following:

"If they wish to provoke us then great, we'll bite. But rest assured, we're going to mess them up. (...) Whatever their last name is, be it Machado, González, Superlano, Patiño, Mendoza. Whatever last name they have, they'll have to answer to justice.".