Protests by supporters of the ruling party and the opposition are expected to take place in Venezuela today following President Nicolas Maduro's contested election victory. The opposition claims that the actual results of the vote show that its candidate won convincingly, Reuters reported, as quoted by BTA.
Election officials said Maduro won a third term with 51 percent of the vote, allowing him to continue a quarter-century of socialist rule.
However, the opposition said 73% of the counted votes it had access to showed opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won a landslide victory, receiving more than twice as many votes as Maduro.
"My dear Venezuelans, tomorrow we gather as a family, organized, demonstrating the determination we have to make every vote count and defend the truth,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said in a post on "Ex" late last night, urging supporters to march today.
Jorge Rodríguez, a ruling party lawmaker and head of Maduro's election campaign, for his part called on socialist supporters to rally-march to the Miraflores presidential palace to support the government. While Gonzalez warned against any violence, Rodriguez accused the opposition of inciting violence.
In his speech last night, Maduro said his government "knows how to deal with this situation and defeat those who are prone to violence," while declaring his support for peace. Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver and foreign minister, took office after the death of President Hugo Chavez in 2013. The US and other countries believe he was re-elected in 2018 with the help of electoral fraud and they call a dictator.
Many Venezuelan voters despaired at the news of another six-year term for Maduro, under whose rule the country suffered an economic collapse that led to the emigration of about a third of the population and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations. This happened in combination with sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and other countries that devastated the already struggling oil industry.
Governments in Washington and around the world have called for full transparency in the counting of votes from Sunday's election, and the 12 member countries of the Organization of American States will meet tomorrow to discuss the vote and the situation in Venezuela.
Counted vote data available to the opposition shows a total of 2.75 million votes for Maduro and 6.27 million votes for his rival, former diplomat Gonzalez, Machado said.
The numbers are in stark contrast to the 5.15 million votes that election officials say Maduro won, compared to 4.45 million for Gonzalez.
Clashes between protesters and security forces were reported across the country, with tear gas fired to disperse the crowds and at least two people killed. In Coro, the capital of Falcon state, demonstrators toppled a statue of Maduro's late mentor Hugo Chavez.
The human rights organization "Venezuelan Conflict Monitoring Center" reported in a publication in "X" for over 180 protests in 20 of Venezuela's 23 states.
"Numerous acts of repression and violence by paramilitary groups and security forces have been reported," the Center noted.