Anti-Maduro protests spread as Venezuelan opposition says he stole vote

Protests spread around Venezuela and police fired tear gas in the capital Caracas as the opposition said it had voting-tally proof it won a weekend election awarded to long-ruling socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Demonstrations began after the election board, which critics say is in the pocket of a dictatorial government, declared on Monday that Maduro had won a third term with 51% of the vote, extending his "Chavista" movement's quarter-century rule.

But the opposition said the 73% of vote tallies to which it has access showed its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won by a landslide, with more than twice as many votes as Maduro.

Many Venezuelans staged "cacerolazos", a traditional Latin American protest where people bang pots and pans in anger.

Some blocked roads, lit fires and threw petrol bombs at police as protests proliferated around the nation, including near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.

Police with shields and batons in Caracas and the city of Maracay fired tear gas to disperse some protests.

Many demonstrators rode motorbikes and jammed streets or draped themselves in the Venezuelan flag. Some covered their faces with scarves as protection against tear gas.

The government calls them violent agitators.

At least two people were killed in connection with the vote count or protests, one in the border state of Tachira and another in Maracay.

 

Reuters