By Jin Kazma
- Venezuelan opposition calls for demonstrations as it disputes the outcome of Sunday’s election.
- At least 16 people have died and another 177 have been injured.
- Videos of protesters across the country burning tyres and throwing Molotov cocktails have circulated in the media.
On Monday evening, thousands of people flooded central Caracas as protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital the day after President Nicolás Maduro was confirmed to have won Sunday’s election.
The opposition has disputed Maduro’s triumph and called for families to turn out for ‘popular assemblies’ across the nation.
‘My dear Venezuelans, tomorrow we meet; as a family, organised, demonstrating the determination we have’, opposition leader María Corina Machado said in a post on X.
A local monitoring group, the Venezuelan Conflict Observatory, said it had registered 187 protests in 20 states by Monday evening, following the opposition’s call for their supporters to rally.
So far, at least 16 people have been killed and 177 have been detained in the demonstrations.
In some areas, posters of President Maduro have been torn down and set alight along with tyres, cars and rubbish.
Groups of protestors have reportedly attempted to block major roads and have attacked buses, police cars and members of the country’s security forces. Throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks, police equipped with shields and batons have responded in strength to protests in Caracas and the city of Maracay.
A video shared with the Associated Press by a protester captures the moment when anti-government activists topple a 12-foot statue of Hugo Chávez amidst loud cries of ‘This government is going to fall’. According to the demonstrator, once removed, the statue was dragged across the plaza, doused in gasoline and set on fire.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have since called for calm and a ‘transparent’ post-election process.
However, the National Electoral Council certified Maduro’s re-election and, while it has not disclosed any results, it is under no obligation to do so.
The 35-member Organisation of American States (OAS) has convened an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to ‘address the results of the electoral process’. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to speak today.
