CARACAS/MEXICO CITY - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday blamed the opposition's presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, for the post-election violence unleashed across the nation.

"I hold you responsible, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, for the criminals, for the injured, for the dead, for the destruction," the president said in a message broadcast to the nation during a joint meeting of the Council of State and the Defense Council.

The president also announced the creation of a fund to aid victims of the violence.

Venezuelan authorities have arrested 749 people for participating in violent riots following Sunday's presidential elections, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Tuesday.

Those arrested face charges of "incitement, obstructing public roads, hate crimes ... resisting arrest and, in the most serious cases, terrorism," the attorney general said at a press conference.

According to Saab, as a result of the violence, 48 military and police officers have been injured, some by gunshots, and a military officer in northern Aragua state was killed.

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Authorities have verified that far-right groups have been using minors and people under the influence of drugs in riots in various cities in Venezuela.

The riots, Saab said, are not protests but rather the work of "armed criminals" looking "to create chaos. They wanted ... this to escalate to the national level ... so there is foreign intervention."

Caracas cuts ties with Lima

Also on Tuesday, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil announced that the Venezuelan government has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Peru.

"The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has decided to sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of Peru, on the basis of Article 45 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961," Gil said on social media platform X.

Gil's announcement followed statements by his Peruvian counterpart, Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea, who said, "Peru will not accept the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people," referring to the country's presidential election.

"We are forced to make this decision after the reckless declarations of the Peruvian foreign minister that ignore the will of the Venezuelan people and our constitution," the Venezuelan diplomat added.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had called on the international community to avoid taking an interventionist stance regarding the presidential elections in Venezuela.

At his regular daily press conference on Tuesday, Lopez Obrador recommended waiting for the final outcome of the elections, which were held Sunday in the South American country.

"It is a matter of waiting for the results and also respecting the self-determination of the people," the president told reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City.

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"Don't the governments of other countries ... have things to do? Why do they have to get involved in the affairs of other countries? Why the interference?" he asked.

Lopez Obrador also questioned the role of the Organization of American States, urging the organization to stop engaging in "politicking."

In the name of democracy, "atrocities are committed," the president warned, referring to governments keen to take sides in Venezuela.

On Monday, Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared President Maduro the winner of Sunday's elections.