The elections were held amid widespread fears of government fraud
Caracas, Venezuela:
New demonstrations were expected in Venezuela on Tuesday after four people were killed and dozens injured when authorities broke up protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s victory in a hotly contested election.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday at angry protesters who questioned the official results, which were questioned by the opposition and neighboring countries.
Thousands of people flooded the streets of several neighborhoods in the capital Caracas, chanting “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government is going to fall!”
Some tore up and burned Maduro campaign posters, while at least two statues of Hugo Chavez – the late authoritarian socialist who led Venezuela for more than a decade and had chosen Maduro himself as his successor – were pulled down by demonstrators.
In addition to the deaths, 44 injuries have also been reported, according to the National Hospital Survey, a network that monitors crises in the country’s hospitals.
Two of the deaths were in Aragua state and one in Caracas, the network said. Meanwhile, the NGO Foro Penal reported another death in the northwestern state of Yaracuy.
Amid growing fears of violence, a leading figure in the opposition coalition, Freddy Superlano, was “kidnapped” by black-clad officials, his Voluntad Popular said on X.
Fear of fraud
The election was held amid widespread fears of government fraud and a campaign tainted by allegations of political intimidation.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) has approved the re-election of 61-year-old Maduro for a new six-year term until 2031, with the president winning 51.2 percent of the votes cast, compared to 44.2 percent for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
But opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told reporters that a review of available voting data clearly showed that the next president “will be Edmund Gonzalez Urrutia,” who replaced her in the vote after she was barred from running by Maduro-linked courts.
The data showed Gonzalez Urrutia had a “mathematically irreversible” lead, she said, with 6.27 million votes to Maduro’s 2.75 million.
The Organization of American States, a regional body, accused Tuesday of “extraordinary manipulation” of the election results that gave Maduro his victory.
Machado called on families on Tuesday to come to “people’s assemblies” across the country to express support for a peaceful transfer of power.
Maduro’s campaign manager Jorge Rodriguez also called on X for “big marches starting this Tuesday to celebrate the victory.”
In Caracas on Monday, AFP saw national guard members firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, some wearing motorcycle helmets and bandanas over their faces. Some responded by throwing stones.
Protests were even reported in poor areas of Caracas, which had been bastions of support for Maduro. Shots could be heard in some places.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries called for a “transparent” process, while allies such as China, Russia and Cuba congratulated Maduro.
Nine Latin American countries called in a joint statement for a “complete review of the results with the presence of independent election observers.” The Chilean president said the outcome was “hard to believe.”
Amid the tensions, Peru recalled its ambassador and Panama said it was suspending relations with Venezuela. Caracas, meanwhile, said it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
Warning of ‘massacre’
Independent polls had predicted Maduro would lose Sunday’s vote.
He has been at the helm of the once oil-rich country since 2013. Amid US sanctions and economic mismanagement, GDP has fallen by 80 percent over the past decade, forcing more than seven million of Venezuela’s thirty million citizens to emigrate.
Maduro has been accused of jailing critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.
In the run-up to the elections, he warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost.
Sunday’s elections were the result of an agreement reached last year between the government and the opposition.
That deal prompted the United States to temporarily ease sanctions imposed after Maduro’s 2018 re-election, which dozens of Latin American and other countries rejected as a sham.
The sanctions were reversed after Maduro reneged on agreed terms.
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, but production capacity has been severely reduced in recent years.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)