These Venezuelan election observers received death threats. Now they are in hiding.

Anthony is hiding in this Colombian town on the border with Venezuela. He says he was attacked by paramilitary groups called “colectivos,” key enforcers of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, after he volunteered as an election observer for the opposition party. He fled here to Cúcuta, along with these other election workers, all of whom have received similar threats. We agreed not to show their faces or give their full names to ensure their safety and that of their families left behind. All of their stories provide firsthand evidence of a post-election crackdown that took place largely away from the public eye. These vote totals, collected by them and other observers, have been released and show that opposition candidate Edmundo González had in fact won a majority of the vote. While many countries, including the United States, have expressed doubts about the election results, Maduro continues to claim victory. He and his followers now target the opposition as terrorists, threatening them in the form of phone messages and home visits. Anthony worked in Venezuela as a baker. The others, a cook, a salesman and an engineer. The Times reviewed evidence that corroborates their stories of attacks as election observers. All of the men, who have been targeted before for their political activism, say the threats after this election seem bolder and more direct. Celso Barbosa himself fled Venezuela six years ago. He says these men were the first group of political exiles he helped flee the country after the July election. Barbosa recently took part in a protest here in Colombia demanding Maduro's resignation. Meanwhile, Maduro has yet to release his election results, and González has now fled to Spain after a top court in Venezuela issued an arrest warrant for him. These men say that when Maduro is sworn in as president in January, others will soon be forced to leave the country.