Thousands of citizens have taken to the streets of Caracas and other major Venezuelan cities to protest against the re-election of Nicolás Maduro, which they say is the result of widespread fraud. Some have walked miles from the shanty towns in the mountains surrounding the city to the presidential palace, and have faced violence from security forces.
According to information from non-governmental organizations, at least one protester died and many others were injured.
Huge protests in Caracas, Venezuela? Millions of people took to the streets across the country to protest against Maduro.#VenezuelaVOTE #VenezuelaElige #VenezuelaDecide2024 #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/nr0hwuMm5g
— World Crisis Tracker (@WorldCrisi19621) July 29, 2024
Images of chaos
Crowds chanted “Freedom, freedom!” and called for the government to fall. Images showed burning tires on highways and large numbers of people in the streets, with police on motorcycles firing tear gas.
In some areas, posters of President Maduro were torn down and burned, while tires, cars and trash were also set ablaze. Armed police, the military and leftist paramilitaries sympathetic to the government clashed with protesters and blocked many roads in the city center.
![Venezuela: Bloody clashes between protesters and police - At least one dead (photos, video) 1 astynomia 1](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/astynomia-1.jpg)
What does the opposition support?
The opposition claims that its own candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won the election, taking 73.2 percent of the vote. Opinion polls before the election had shown him clearly winning for months.
Opposition parties have backed Gonzalez in a bid to oust President Maduro after 11 years in power and amid a deepening economic crisis.
The Ministry of the Interior announced that Maduro was the winner with a percentage just over 51%.
We have in our hands the actions that undermine our historic, categorical and mathematically irreversible triumph.
I deeply thank the international community for its solidarity and support at these crucial times.
Venezuela wants peace and recognition à la… pic.twitter.com/ULwGceHZ1T
—Edmundo Gonzalez (@EdmundoGU) July 30, 2024
Latin American countries contest the result
Several Western and Latin American countries, as well as international bodies including the UN, have called on Venezuelan authorities to release voting records from individual polling stations.
Argentina is among the countries that have refused to recognize President Maduro’s election victory, and Venezuela has in response recalled diplomats from Buenos Aires. Diplomats from six other Latin American countries — Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay — have also withdrawn over what Foreign Minister Ivan Gill described on social media as “intrusive actions and statements.”
The Venezuelan government also announced a temporary suspension of commercial air flights to and from Venezuela with Panama and the Dominican Republic starting at 8:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
With information from BBC