San Cristobal , Venezuela ( CNN ) -- The wives of two jailed Venezuelan opposition politicians have won landslide election victories while their husbands remain behind bars . The votes Sunday in the cities of San Cristobal and San Diego were symbolic triumphs for the South American country 's opposition , which has argued that the cities ' former mayors were politically persecuted when authorities arrested them in March . Daniel Ceballos was accused of civil rebellion and conspiracy after the government said he failed to stop violent protests in San Cristobal . He was given a 12-month sentence . San Cristobal is in the southwestern part of the country , near the border with Colombia . Enzo Scarano was jailed for 10 months after the government accused him of ignoring an order given by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice to stop protests in San Diego , a city near the coast and west of the capital of Caracas . After winning more than 73 % of votes in the mayoral election Sunday , Patricia Gutierrez de Ceballos said that each ballot cast in her favor represented a sentence of justice and freedom and a blow against what she called the country 's dictatorship . `` They have converted me into mayor and ratified Daniel Ceballos as mayor . And today , San Cristobal has the privilege of having two mayors governing its city , '' the 30-year-old engineer said . When protests erupted against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro 's government earlier this year , San Cristobal , capital of the border state of Tachira , quickly became a flashpoint , and Daniel Ceballos was an outspoken critic of Maduro . Clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces have left more than 40 people dead and around 800 injured across the country since February , according to officials . Maduro has said protesters are `` fascists and extreme-right thugs '' who are trying to destabilize the government to promote a coup . Protesters call Maduro a dictator who has ruined the Venezuelan economy with failed socialist policies . Rosa Brandonisio de Scarano , formerly a City Council member in San Diego , won nearly 88 % of votes in the mayoral election there Sunday , officials said . After casting her ballot , she said her vote was a protest against the government 's sentence of her husband . `` The people will remain peacefully in the streets , making people listen , so that it echoes throughout the world that Venezuela right now is going through a very difficult time , economically , socially , morally and politically , '' she told reporters . One official from the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela praised the San Diego election results . Carabobo state Gov . Francisco Ameliach said the results signal that the government 's election authority is impartial , the state-run AVN news agency reported . Earlier this month , a State Department official pointed to the arrests of Ceballos and Scarano as signs that Maduro 's government `` continues to persecute political opponents . '' `` While dismantling the independent media and jailing local officials who dare to dissent , the Maduro government is simultaneously empowering armed civilian thugs , or 'colectivos ' to intimidate and kill those Venezuelans who continue to march , '' Tom Malinowski , assistant secretary of the U.S. State Department 's Bureau of Democracy , Human Rights and Labor , said in a statement prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . CNN team denied permission to cover Venezuelan local elections . Opinion : The Venezuelan nightmare . Journalist Osmary Hernandez reported from San Cristobal , Venezuela . CNN 's Elwyn Lopez and Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta . CNN 's Claudia Dominguez also contributed to this report .
The local election victories are significant symbolic triumphs for Venezuela 's opposition . Patricia Gutierrez de Lara says the votes were sentences of justice and freedom . Her husband was arrested after authorities said he failed to stop anti - government protests . ` ` The people will remain peacefully in the streets , '' Rosa ##lia de Scarano said .