After Disputed Election, Venezuela’s Maduro Bans X for 10 Days

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro speaks during a press conference after casting his vote during the presidential elections at Escuela Ecológica Bolivariana Simón Rodríguez in Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas, Venezuela, on July 28, 2024. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has signed a resolution blocking access to the social media platform X for 10 days.

Maduro has frequently criticised X owner Elon Musk since Venezuela’s presidential election on July 28, after the U.S.-based Tesla and Space X entrepreneur called him a “dictator” and accused him of carrying out “major election fraud.”

X has now reportedly been blocked on two private telephone networks and the state-owned Movilnet.

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets last month after Maduro claimed to have won the election, despite widespread reports of victory for the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.

After the Venezuelan Electoral Council announced Maduro had won the election, Gonzalez claimed on X, “We have in our hands the records that demonstrate our historic, categorical, and mathematically irreversible triumph.”

Another opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, said they had obtained more than 70 percent of the tallies, which showed Gonzalez won more than 6.2 million votes and Maduro got around 2.7 million.

Maduro said he had decided to block Venezuelans’ access to X because Musk was “inciting hatred.”

In the wake of the election results being announced, Musk posted on X saying, “Shame on dictator Maduro.”

Maduro responded, live on national television in Venezuela, saying: “Do you want to fight? Let’s do it. Elon Musk, I’m ready. I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Let’s fight, wherever you want.”

Musk Offered Maduro ‘Free Ride to Mars’

Musk replied by agreeing to a fight but added: “If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.”

Announcing the 10-day ban on Thursday, Maduro said, “Elon Musk is the owner of X and has violated all the rules of the social network itself.”

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, greets supporters during 'Ganó Venezuela' opposition protest in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 3, 2024. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

Maduro said X was being used by the opposition to create political unrest.

The president said: “X out for 10 days. Elon Musk out.”

Maduro said he signed the resolution following “the proposal made by CONATEL, the National Telecommunications Commission, which has decided to remove the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, from circulation in Venezuela for 10 days so that they can present their documents.”

The Venezuelan Electoral Council still has not produced the final voting tallies from the 30,000 electronic voting machines that were used on July 28.

The United States, along with some other nations such as Argentina, has not recognised Maduro as the winner of the presidential election, and instead recognises Gonzalez.

Maduro Says Need to ‘Regulate’ Social Media

Since the election, Maduro has said there is a need to “regulate” social networks in Venezuela.

Maduro claimed X was being used to threaten the families of his supporters and political allies, military personnel, and police officers.

After Maduro was announced as the winner of the election, protests erupted in several Venezuelan cities, with demonstrators tearing down Maduro’s posters and toppling statues of the late President Hugo Chavez, whom Maduro succeeded in 2013, according to local media.

Venezuela—despite having the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves—has high levels of poverty and a dysfunctional economy.

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela was established by Chavez, who was elected president in 1998.

The initial results of Chavez’s party taking control were positive.

Poverty and unemployment dropped drastically between 2004 and 2007, according to the Center for Economic Policy and Research.

But a Council on Foreign Relations analysis found Chavez’s decision to fire experienced oil industry workers after the 2002–2003 strikes “gutted the company of important technical expertise.”

Venezuelan oil production began to steadily decline, starting in 2006.

Chavez also began offering subsidized oil to other politically-aligned countries in the region and under his presidency the government’s debt more than doubled.

Since Maduro came to power, Venezuela’s economy has continued to decline—partly owing to a fall in the price of oil—resulting in a steep devaluation of its currency, a lack of foreign currency, food shortages, and soaring levels of poverty.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.