CARACAS: Fresh demonstrations were expected in Venezuela on Tuesday after one person died as security forces tried to break up protests sparked by hotly contested election results that gave Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a third term in power.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday at angry protesters challenging the re-election victory claimed by Maduro but disputed by the opposition and disputed by many other countries.
Thousands of people flooded the streets of several neighborhoods in the capital, chanting “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government will fall!”
Some tore Maduro's campaign posters from street signs and burned them.
At least two statues of Hugo Chavez, the late socialist revolutionary who led Venezuela for more than a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor, were knocked down by protesters.
One person died in the northwestern state of Yaracuy and 46 were arrested in post-election demonstrations, Alfredo Romero, head of the Foro Penal Rights Group specializing in political prisoner issues, said on social media platform X. He did not say what caused the death.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) confirmed the re-election of Maduro, 61, to another six-year term until 2031.
Maduro dismissed international criticism and doubts about the outcome of Sunday's vote, claiming that Venezuela was the target of an attempted “coup” of a “fascist and counter-revolutionary” nature.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told reporters that a review of available voting records clearly showed that the next president “will be Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia,” who replaced her on the ballot after she was barred by Maduro-aligned courts.
The records showed a “mathematically irreversible” lead for Gonzalez Urrutia, she said, with 6.27 million votes to Maduro's 2.75 million.
She urged families to turn out on Tuesday for “people's assemblies” across the country to show support for a peaceful transition of power.
“There are millions of citizens in Venezuela… who want to see their vote count,” she later wrote on X.
Maduro's campaign manager Jorge Rodriguez also called for “big marches starting this Tuesday to celebrate the victory.”
In Caracas on Monday, AFP observed members of the National Guard firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, some wearing motorcycle helmets and bandanas tied over their faces. Some responded by throwing stones.
Protests were also reported in poor areas of Caracas that had been bastions of support for Maduro. Shots were heard in some areas.
“We want freedom. We want Maduro to go. Maduro, leave!” Marina Sugey, a 42-year-old resident of Petare, a poor neighborhood in Caracas, told AFP.
The election was held amid widespread fears of government fraud and a campaign tainted by allegations of political intimidation.
The CNE said on Monday that Maduro had won 51.2 percent of the votes cast compared to 44.2 percent for Gonzalez Urrutia.
As the opposition cried foul, Attorney General Tarek William Saab linked Machado to an alleged cyber “attack” that attempted to “falsify” the results.
International reactions
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries called for a “transparent” process, while allies including China, Russia and Cuba congratulated Maduro.
Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat, acknowledged Monday the deep dissatisfaction with the CNE results and vowed that “we will fight for our freedom.”
Nine Latin American countries called in a joint statement for a “full review of the results with the presence of independent election observers.”
The US-based Carter Center, one of the few organizations that had observers in Venezuela, called on the CNE to immediately publish detailed results at the polling station level.
Brazil and Colombia also called for a review of the figures, while Chile's president said the results were “hard to believe”.
Peru recalled its ambassador and Panama said it was cutting ties with Venezuela.
The Washington-based Organization of American States called an emergency meeting on Wednesday at the request of Argentina and other countries challenging the CNE settlement.
Caracas hit back, saying it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
It also halted flights to and from Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Criticism
Independent polls had predicted Sunday's vote would end 25 years of “Chavismo,” the populist movement founded by Chavez.
Maduro has been at the helm of the once-wealthy oil-rich country since 2013. The past decade has seen GDP drop by 80 percent, forcing more than seven million of Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate.
He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of increasing authoritarianism.
Ahead of the election, he warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost.
Sunday's election was the result of an agreement reached last year between the government and the opposition.
That deal led to the U.S. temporarily easing sanctions imposed after Maduro's 2018 re-election, which was dismissed as a sham by dozens of Latin American and other countries.
Sanctions were rolled back after Maduro reneged on agreed terms.
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, but production capacity has declined sharply in recent years.
Most Venezuelans live on just a few dollars a month and endure severe shortages of electricity and fuel.
Economic misery in the South American nation has been a major source of migration pressure on America's southern border, where immigration is a key issue in the presidential election.
