Caracas Protests Erupt After Maduro Victory

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Caracas to express their discontent with Nicolas Maduro's recent victory in the presidential election.

Riot police were deployed to face protesters, shooting tear gas at them.

Protesters marched on the iconic Francisco de Miranda Avenue with hopes to reach the government palace, Palacio de Miraflores, but the national guard stopped them from reaching the palace.

The authorities did not provide an official count of those injured or detained. Some protesters were also headed towards Miraflores, the presidential palace.

Police were deployed in large numbers across the city, and members of the National Guard were seen to be firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators. There were also reports of “colectivos” — pro-Maduro paramilitary groups — firing at protesters.

But the CNE, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, has not released the tallies from each of the 30,000 polling stations across Venezuela, fuelling political tensions in the South American nation and calls for greater transparency.

In a press conference, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado claimed her coalition had more than 70 percent of the votes tallied and cataloged in an online database.

Opposition representatives said the counts they collected from campaign representatives at the centers show presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez trouncing Maduro.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government knows how to deal with the nationwide anti-government protest and that he knows how to “defeat the violent.”

In remarks he made during a live broadcast from the Miraflores government palace he also said protests were incited by what he called the 'extreme right'.

Public anger swelled after the National Electoral Council formally confirmed that Maduro had been re-elected by a majority of Venezuelans to another six-year term as president for the period 2025-2031.