Security forces in Venezuela have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of people protesting and walking toward the presidential palace refusing Sunday’s disputed election result after the win of Nicolás Maduro with 73.2% of the vote.
Opinion polls conducted prior to the election predicted a clean victory for the opponent, BCC said.
Opposition groups had banded together behind Edmundo Golnzàlez in a bid to depose President Maduro after 11 years in power, citing widespread anger with the country’s economic plight.
A large military and police presence was on the streets of Caracas, attempting to disperse protesters and prevent them from entering the Presidential Palace.
Crowds screamed “freedom, freedom!” and urged the regime to fall.
Footage showed tyres burning on highways and massive crowds on the streets, with police on motorcycles firing tear gas.
Venezuela’s government also announced a temporary stoppage of commercial aviation flights to and from Venezuela, Panama, and the Dominican Republic beginning at 20:00 local time on Wednesday.
Maduro stated that it is his “obligation to tell you the truth” in an address broadcast on Venezuelan state television.
“We are all under the obligation to listen the truth, to gear up with patience, calmness and strength because we are familiar with this movie and we know how to face these situations and how to defeat the violent,” he said.
Maduro has accused the opposition of calling for a coup by disputing the results saying “This is not the first time we are facing what we are facing today.”
The Venezuelan attorney general cautioned that obstructing highways or violating any laws relating to disruptions as part of protests will result in the full force of the law.
He said 32 persons had been held on charges ranging from damaging electoral materials to inciting acts of violence.
A number of Western and Latin American countries, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations, have urged the Venezuelan government to provide voting records from individual polling stations.
Diplomats from Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay have also been recalled for what Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil described as “interventionist actions and statements”.
Meanwhile, US senior administration officials stated that the published result “does not track with data that we’ve received through quick count mechanisms and other sources, which suggests that the result that was announced may be at odds with how people voted”.
That was “the primary source of our concern,” they explained.
However, the US has not yet decided what the outcome implies for their sanctions policy against Venezuela.
Officials have emphasized that, while they have reservations about the outcome, President Maduro did call an election and enable an opposition candidate to be on the ballot – even though the opposition leader was barred from running.