Dozens of prisoners and at least six dead in protests against Maduro | Venezuela

Thousands of people took to the streets in several cities across Venezuela on Monday to protest Nicolas Maduro’s victory in Sunday’s presidential election with 51% of the vote, controlled by the Chavista regime, by the Latin American National Electoral Council (CNE). An opposition politician was arrested on Tuesday.

In cities like Caracas, protesters clashed with security forces, who fired tear gas and set up street barricades to disperse them. oh El Pies The authorities, backed by armed Chavista civilian groups, say they have “severely repressed” the protests in the capital, and the government is talking about 23 injured police officers.

There have been at least six confirmed deaths in six states, according to the newspaper. Newspaper. The dead included two minors – a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy.

In Coro, the capital of Falcon state, protesters toppled a statue of Hugo Chavez, a former president and historical figure of the Bolivarian movement – at least five statues of Maduro’s predecessor in other parts of the country were affected, according to a Spanish newspaper. Same rule.

The Venezuelan Observatory of Human Rights, a non-governmental human rights organization of social conflicts in Venezuela, recorded 187 protests against Maduro in 20 states in Venezuela, as cited by Reuters. A rally called by the opposition will be held in Caracas this Tuesday.

Some of the protests that ended in violence involved masked people, many of them on motorcycles. Streets were blocked and some vehicles were set on fire. In almost all cities, people were seen walking peacefully through the streets armed with posters, national flags and pots or pans, shouting “fraud” and other slogans against the government and the CNE.

“I will fight for my country’s democracy,” one protester told Reuters. They stole the election from us. We must continue to fight for the youth,” he said.

Opposition politician arrested

Foro Penal, another NGO that provides legal support to people arbitrarily detained in the country, says 132 people have been detained following the protests. Freddy Superlano, one of the leaders of Juan Guaidó’s party, was arrested by Venezuelan authorities, the newspaper said. Newspaper. The confirmation was made on the social network X by Guaidó, who was later exiled in the United States. “Dictatorship has kidnapped political leader Freddie Superlano. They are responsible for their honesty,” he wrote.

The Voluntad Popular party from Superlano has issued a “national and international warning” on social media. “We must responsibly inform the country that our national political coordinator, Freddie Superlano, has been abducted,” the X platform read.

In a statement to the nation from the Miraflores Palace (presidential headquarters) in Caracas, Nicolás Maduro himself spoke of “dozens” of prisoners in the past few hours, “caught in a crime” and “involved in crime” and terrorist activities.

The Chavista leader guaranteed that 80% of those arrested had “criminal records” and 90% had “arms and drugs.” “They admit they are being paid [e que recebem] Precise orders on where to attack”, he reported, without providing many details about the allegation.

For his part, Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Patrino López said this Tuesday that the country was a victim. “An attempted coup“. “President Nicolás Maduro has already moved to stop him. With him, the people and democratic institutions,” he said in a televised address to the nation.

Critics of Maduro and the CNE, as well as opponents of Venezuela’s socialist president, accuse the regime of “fraudulent” elections. At a press conference on Monday, in which Insisting that candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is the “new elected president of Venezuela,” opposition leader María Corina Machado said her team’s 73% of the votes officially counted indicated a clear defeat for Maduro.

The opposition guarantees that González Urrutia won more than 6.2 million votes, while the man who has ruled Venezuela since 2013 won more than 2.7 million. These numbers are consistent with pre-election and exit polls, which attributed the victory to the Unitary Platform candidate with 65% of the total vote.

Led by Elvis Amoroso – a figure close to Maduro who confirmed his victory before the final results were announced – however, the CNE says, the result is “irrevocable” (51.2% for the president; 44.2% for González Urrutia). According to the government, there was a delay in releasing the results early on Monday, “”Hacking” and “terrorist attacks” by politicians who oppose the voting system.

Countries such as China, Russia, Iran or Cuba have already congratulated the re-elected president, but countries such as the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Chile, Colombia, Brazil have requested the CNE to publish. Minutes of polling booths and counting of votes should be published with full “transparency” and “impartiality”. Until then, they refuse to recognize Maduro’s victory.

Here, among the parties with parliamentary representation, only the PCP recognized the decision announced by Venezuela’s CNE.

Maduro ordered the withdrawal of members of the diplomatic missions of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay from Chavista-led Venezuela, denouncing a “conspiracy” led by the “extreme right”. Labeled as “interventions”.