The national electoral authority has declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the vote, granting him a third six-year term in office. However, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez claims his campaign has sufficient proof to show he won the election. Demonstrators in Venezuela have clashed with police as thousands took to the streets to protest the election result.
Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado informed their supporters that they had obtained more than 70% of the tally sheets from the disputed election, indicating that Gonzalez had actually defeated Maduro.
“I speak to you with the calmness of the truth,” Gonzalez said. “The will expressed yesterday through your vote will be respected… We have in our hands the tally sheets that demonstrate our victory.” Angry protesters were seen on streets across Venezuela shortly after the National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro’s ruling party, officially declared Maduro the winner with 51% of the vote compared to 44% for Gonzalez.
In the capital Caracas, a brawl erupted when police in riot gear blocked the protests and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. Some protesters responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the police. “It’s going to fall. It’s going to fall. This government is going to fall,” some protesters chanted.
A man fired a gun as protesters moved through the capital’s financial district, but no one was wounded. At least two people were killed in connection with the protests. In the city of Coro, protesters pulled down a statue of former president Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s mentor.
