Mass protests and clashes in Venezuela – opposition against Maduro's declaration as winner of elections (video)

After Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the elections in Venezuela on the night of Monday, July 29, thousands of opponents of the incumbent president took to the streets of Caracas and other cities in the country to protest.

Soon Clashes with police and military began. Correspondent BBC Ioni Wells reports from Caracas:

“At first they banged pots and pans to protest President Maduro's declaration of victory. Then tensions began to mount. Thousands of protesters marched downtown and to the presidential palace. Cars, tires and trash were burned in the streets. Clashes broke out between protesters and armed police.”

Police and military personnel blocked off streets around the presidential palace they started shooting plastic bullets and tear gas grenades at protesters. Demonstrators respond with rocks and Molotov cocktails. They chant “Freedom!” and “This government will fall!”, tearing down and burning portraits of Maduro hung on lampposts. Protesters tear down monuments and build barricades.

Along with the police and military, a leftist paramilitary organization called “colectivos” is participating in the clashes to defend Maduro's power. In 2018, before and after the previous presidential elections, protests in Venezuela continued for several months, but the power of Maduro and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela remained intact.

The National Electoral Council announced Sunday that the incumbent president had won 51.2% of the vote, while the candidate from the united opposition, Edmundo González, had won 44%. Independent exit polls showed that González had received about 65% of the vote, while Maduro had received between 14% and 31%.

Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader, told reporters on Monday that the recount, which the opposition is conducting on its own, shows a landslide victory for González, who collected 6.27 million votes, while Maduro received only 2.75 million. She specified that the opposition has copies of 73% of the protocols from the polling stations. The AFP agency notes that the opposition leaders did not call for street protests – they broke out spontaneously.

Police Shooting in Caracas, Many Injured (video). Maduro's headquarters announced some problems, allegedly a hacker attack, due to which it is impossible to accurately count the election results. Some of the voting data has been lost. Several countries have already congratulated Maduro on his victory: Iran, China, Cuba, North Korea and Russia.

On Monday, Nicolás Maduro attended a meeting of the National Electoral Council that approved his reelection for another seven years. He dismissed allegations of electoral fraud and, without providing evidence, said the protests against his reelection were an attempted coup by “fascist and counterrevolutionary forces” at the instigation of foreign powers.

Among the countries the incumbent president has called his enemies and which have not recognized the declared results of the Venezuelan elections are at least 12 countries in the Americas. They have demanded an urgent meeting of the permanent council of the Organization of American States, and it was announced on Monday that the council would meet in Washington on Wednesday.

The Venezuelan government has recalled diplomatic personnel from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Chile, and is demanding the immediate withdrawal of representatives from these countries from its territory. The statement was published by the head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Ivan Gil, in X:

#Communicado 📢 Venezuela expresa su más firme rechazo ante las injerencistas acciones y declaraciones de un grupo de gobiernos de derecha, subordinados a Washington y comprometidos abiertamente con los más sórdidos postulados ideológicos del fascismo internacional, tratando… pic.twitter.com/l0dAaNSnEA

— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) July 29, 2024

In addition, the Venezuelan government “reserves all legal and political measures to ensure respect, preservation and protection of our inalienable right to self-determination.” It called the statements of these countries on the elections in Venezuela “interference in internal affairs”:

“The Venezuelan government will oppose any actions that threaten peaceful coexistence.”

Source link