Police use tear gas as crowds protest against Venezuelan election count | Protest news

Venezuelan security forces have used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters angry at the announcement of Nicolás Maduro’s victory in Sunday’s presidential election.

Thousands of people streamed through the streets of the capital Caracas on Monday, chanting “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government will fall!” The opposition has questioned the official results announced by the electoral commission, a doubt supported by several countries around the world.

Regardless, the National Electoral Council (CNE) has confirmed Maduro’s re-election for a third six-year term until 2031.

At least two statues of Hugo Chávez, the late socialist icon who ruled Venezuela for more than a decade and personally handpicked Maduro as his successor, have been toppled by protesters across the country.

The National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters, many of whom wore motorcycle helmets and had bandanas tied over their faces for protection. Some responded by throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.

Maduro rejected international criticism and doubts about the outcome, arguing that Venezuela was the target of a coup attempt of a “fascist and counterrevolutionary” nature.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told reporters that a review of the voting results available so far clearly showed that the next president would be “Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia,” who took her place in the election after the Maduro-aligned courts denied her the right to run.

The elections took place amid widespread fears of electoral fraud by the government, and the campaign was marred by allegations of political intimidation.

Pollsters had predicted an overwhelming victory for the opposition.

In the early hours of Monday, the CNE announced that Maduro had received 51.2 percent of the votes cast, while Gonzalez Urrutia had received 44.2 percent.

The opposition cried foul, prompting Justice Minister Tarek William Saab to link Machado to an alleged “cyberattack” aimed at “falsifying” the results.

The outcome raised concerns and sparked calls for a “transparent” process from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries.

The CNE did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

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 re-election in 2018, after dozens of Latin American and other countries rejected them as a farce.

The sanctions were abruptly reinstated after Maduro failed to comply with the agreed terms.