VIOLENT clashes broke out in the city center of Caracas between the Venezuelan national guard and protesters who are against President Nicolas Maduro’s victory in the presidential election.
The police deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds.
Protesters responded by setting tires and trash on fire, with some hurling stones at the advancing law enforcement officers, who were equipped with shields and full riot gear.
Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential election.
Elvis Amoroso, the head of the National Electoral Council (C.N.E), announced that with 80 percent of the ballots counted, Maduro secured 51 percent of the vote, while his main rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received 44 percent.
However, the Venezuelan opposition dismissed the CNE’s announcement, claiming that Gonzalez had won up to 70 percent of the vote, although no evidence was supplied to support this claim.
This led to widespread protests in Caracas and other cities in Venezuela, along with significant celebrations of Maduro’s victory.
Maduro himself described the result as a ‘triumph of peace and stability’.
Having first come to power in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez, Maduro has now secured a historic third consecutive term.
