Scores of Venezuelans marched towards the presidential palace in Caracas to protest against President Nicolás Maduro’s claim of victory in the country’s disputed election. Several people shared pictures of the crowds on social media platforms with captions including “knock down the dictator” and “everyone to Miraflores,” where the palace is located.
According to the BBC, an armed military convoy travelling to the presidential palace was seen, with soldiers in balaclavas standing on the back of the cars with large rifles. Police fired tear gas as protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital the day after Maduro claimed victory in presidential polls.
The opposition has raised disputes over Maduro’s declaration of victory and dubbed it fraudulent, saying its candidate Edmundo González bagged a convincing victory with 73.2% of the vote, as reported by the BBC. Ahead of the presidential elections, opinion polls projected a clear victory for the challenger.
Opposition parties had thrown their weight behind González in a bid to oust President Maduro after 11 years in power, amid widespread discontent over the country’s economic crisis. Several Western and Latin American nations, as well as international bodies including the UN, have called on the Venezuelan authorities to release voting records from individual polling stations.
Earlier, many people banged pots and pans on streets as well as from their homes, the BBC reported. One group stood outside in the pouring rain, chanting “Afuera” (Out) and “Libertad” (Freedom).
According to the footage shared, tyres were seen burning on highways, and large numbers of people were seen on the streets, with police on motorcycles firing tear gas. According to the BBC report, a heavy military and police presence, including water cannons, is on the streets of Caracas to try to disperse protesters and prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.
Some groups of supporters of Maduro gathered along with pro-Maduro paramilitaries. The BBC spoke to a number of people who attended one protest in a densely-populated area known as La Lucha, meaning “the fight.”
Paola Sarzalejo, 41, said the vote was “terrible, fraud. We won with 70%, but they did the same thing to us again. They took the elections from us again.
“We want a better future for our youth, for our country.” Her father Miguel, 64, agreed, saying: “He lost the elections, he has no right to be there right now.”
He added: “We want a better future for the youth because if not, they will leave the country. One where they can work well and earn well. We have a rich country, and he is destroying everything.
“If the youth all leave, only old people will be left in Venezuela, only senior citizens.”
Cristobal Martinez, draped in a Venezuelan flag, said he thought the election was a “fraud.”
He said most young people in La Lucha and surrounding areas had voted in an election that was particularly important for young people as “many of us are unemployed” and “the majority do not study”.
“It was the first time I have voted in my life. I was there from six in the morning until approximately nine in the morning, and I saw a lot of people mobilising in the street.
“There was a lot of discontent towards the government. The majority of people were participating for change.”
He said while President Maduro had been in office for a long time there had not been “any change” and it had been “worse since President Chavez died.”
He accused some older people who sympathised with the government of living off bonuses or food handouts, whereas “we want a change, we want decent jobs, a good future for our country.”
Martinez said he wanted “people from other countries to help us… so that a disaster doesn’t happen like in previous times”.
Maduro has accused the opposition of calling for a coup by disputing the results. “This is not the first time we are facing what we are facing today,” he said.
“They are trying to impose in Venezuela a coup d’etat again of fascist and counter-revolutionary character.”
The Venezuelan attorney general had issued a warning that the blocking of roads or breaking any laws related to disturbances as part of protests would be met with the full force of the law and that 32 people had been detained on accusations ranging from destruction of electoral materials to escalating acts of violence.
