Did Maduro Steal The Vote? Anti-Government Protests Surge Across Venezuela

Protests have erupted across Venezuela, with police deploying tear gas in the capital, Caracas, as the opposition claims voting-tally proof that contradicts the election board's announcement of President Nicolas Maduro's victory.

The election board, which critics accuse of being controlled by the government, declared on Monday that Maduro won a third term with 51% of the vote, extending the "Chavista" movement's 25-year rule, as reported by Reuters.

Did Maduro Steal The Vote? Anti-Government Protests Sparks!

However, the opposition asserts that 73% of the vote tallies they accessed show their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won by a landslide, with more than twice the votes of Maduro. This has led to widespread "cacerolazos," a traditional protest where people bang pots and pans in anger.

Roads have been blocked, fires lit, and petrol bombs thrown at police as protests spread nationwide, including near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.

"We are tired of this government, we want a change. We want to be free in Venezuela. We want our families to return here," said one masked protester, referring to the mass exodus of Venezuelans in recent years. In Caracas and Maracay, police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who rode motorbikes, jammed streets, draped themselves in the Venezuelan flag, and covered their faces with scarves against the tear gas, as per media reports.

The government has labelled the protesters as violent agitators. "I'll fight for my country's democracy. They stole the election from us," said another protester. In Coro, the capital of Falcon state, protesters cheered and danced after tearing down a statue of the late President Hugo Chavez, Maduro's mentor who ruled from 1999-2013.

The Venezuelan Conflict Observatory reported 187 protests in 20 states by 6 p.m. on Monday, with numerous acts of repression and violence by paramilitary groups and security forces. Maduro, in a live broadcast from the presidential palace, claimed his forces were maintaining peace, supported by the armed forces.

"We have been following all of the acts of violence promoted by the extreme right," Maduro stated.

At least two deaths have been linked to the vote count or protests, one in the border state of Tachira and another in Maracay. Maduro, a former union leader and foreign minister, has been in power since winning the election after Chavez's death in 2013 and re-election in 2018, both votes denounced by the opposition as rigged, as reported by Reuters.

Under his presidency, Venezuela has experienced economic collapse, mass migration, and deteriorating relations with the West, including sanctions that have crippled the oil industry. Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino warned against repeating the "terrible situations of 2014, 2017, and 2019" when anti-government protests led to hundreds of deaths without dislodging Maduro.

Independent pollsters found Maduro's victory implausible, and governments in Washington and elsewhere questioned the results, urging a full vote count. Argentina's President Javier Milei remarked, "Not even (Maduro) believes the electoral scam he is celebrating." Peru ordered Venezuelan diplomats to leave within 72 hours, citing "serious and arbitrary decisions made today by the Venezuelan regime," as reported.

In contrast, political allies such as Russia and Cuba supported Maduro. President Vladimir Putin extended a welcome to Maduro in Russia, while Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel congratulated him for "cleanly and unequivocally defeating the pro-imperialist opposition." The Organization of American States announced a meeting on Wednesday in Washington to discuss the Venezuelan election, according to a Reuters report.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, barred from running in the poll but leading Gonzalez's campaign, called for marches on Tuesday. "My dear Venezuelans, tomorrow we meet; as a family, organized, demonstrating the determination we have to make every vote count and defend the truth," she declared. The government is also planning pro-Maduro rallies.