CARACAS: Fresh demonstrations are expected in Venezuela on Tuesday after one person was killed as security forces tried to disperse protests sparked by a hotly contested election result that gave Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a third term in power.
Security forces on Monday fired tear gas and rubber bullets against angry protesters challenging a re-election victory claimed by Maduro but disputed by the opposition and questioned by many other countries.
Thousands of people took to the streets of several districts of the capital, chanting “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government will fall!”
Some tore down Maduro's campaign posters from street poles and burned them.
At least two statues of Hugo Chavez, the late socialist revolutionary who ruled Venezuela for more than a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor, were knocked down by protesters.
One person died in northwestern Yarakuy state and 46 were arrested during post-election demonstrations, Alfredo Romero, head of the Foro Penal rights group that specializes in political prisoners, said on social media platform X. He did not say what caused the deaths.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) approved the re-election of Maduro, 61, for another six-year term until 2031.
Maduro dismissed international criticism and doubts about the outcome of Sunday's vote, saying Venezuela was the target of an attempted “coup d'état” of a “fascist and counter-revolutionary” nature.
Opposition leader María 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 pro-Maduro courts barred her.
According to her, the records showed a “mathematically irreversible” lead of González Urrutia with 6.27 million votes against Maduro's 2.75 million.
She called on families to come to “people's meetings” across the country on Tuesday to show support for a peaceful transition of power.
“Venezuela has millions of citizens… who want their voices to count,” she later wrote on X.
Maduro's campaign manager, Jorge Rodríguez, also called for X to hold “big marches that will start this Tuesday to celebrate the victory.”
In Caracas on Monday, AFP watched as members of the National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, some wearing motorcycle helmets and bandanas tied around their faces. Some threw stones in response.
Protests were reported even in the poor neighborhoods of Caracas, which have 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 tarnished by allegations of political intimidation.
CNE reported on Monday that Maduro won 51.2 percent of the vote, compared to 44.2 percent for Gonzalez Urrutia.
As the opposition cried foul, Attorney General Tarek William Saab linked Machado to an alleged cyberattack to “rigg” 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.
González Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat, on Monday admitted deep dissatisfaction with the CNE results and vowed that “we will fight for our freedom.”
In a joint statement, nine Latin American countries called 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 release detailed voting results at the polling station level.
Brazil and Colombia also called for a review of the figures, while Chile's president said the result was “hard to believe”.
Peru recalled its ambassador and Panama said it was ending relations with Venezuela.
The Washington-based Organization of American States called an emergency meeting for Wednesday at the request of Argentina and other countries that contested the CNE results.
Caracas responded by saying it would recall diplomatic personnel from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
It also suspended flights to and from Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Criticism
Independent polls had predicted that Sunday's vote would end the 25-year existence of “Chavismo”, the populist movement founded by Chávez.
Maduro has ruled the once oil-rich country since 2013. GDP has fallen by 80 percent over the past decade, forcing more than seven million of Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate.
He is accused of imprisoning critics and persecuting the opposition amid growing authoritarianism.
On the eve of the election, he warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost.
The elections on Sunday were the result of an agreement reached last year between the government and the opposition.
The deal saw the United States temporarily ease sanctions imposed after Maduro's 2018 re-election, which dozens of Latin American and other countries dismissed as a sham.
Sanctions were lifted after Maduro reneged on agreed terms.
Venezuela boasts 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 experience acute shortages of electricity and fuel.
Economic woes in the South American country have been a major source of migration pressure on the southern border of the United States, where immigration is a major issue in the presidential election.
