Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on Saturday (3) to protest what they consider to be the fraudulent re-election of President Nicolás Maduro. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was in hiding for fear of her life, joined the protests in Caracas. Maduro also called for a demonstration of supporters and accused the opposition of planning an attack on the streets.
María Corina Machado was welcomed at the demonstration rejecting the official results of the presidential elections with shouts of “freedom” from the thousands of participants.
Venezuela’s electoral authority, seen by critics as biased towards the ruling socialist party, declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of Sunday’s election (July 28), counting that he had 51% of the vote against 46% for the opposition candidate, Edmundo González. The entity reaffirmed a similar margin on Friday (2).
The election result sparked widespread allegations of fraud and protests, which were suppressed by Maduro’s security forces, who called them part of a US-sponsored coup attempt.
So far, at least 20 people have been killed in post-election protests, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Another 1,200 have been arrested in connection with the demonstrations, according to the government.
*With information from Reuters, Lusa and RTP
