Protests sweep Venezuela after Maduro declared third term

At least one person was killed in protests that erupted in Venezuela on Monday after authorities declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of a third term, which the opposition rejected as the winner.

Immediately after Maduro was declared the winner of a third term, thousands took to the streets to protest and question the outcome.

In the capital, Caracas, the demonstrations were largely peaceful, but when dozens of riot police tried to block a procession, clashes erupted between the two sides.

Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, some of whom threw stones and other objects at police stationed on a main street in an upscale area.

A man shot at protesters walking through the city’s financial district, but no one was injured.

Protesters reportedly toppled two statues of Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

The demonstrations followed Venezuela’s most peaceful election in living memory, reflecting hopes that the country could avoid bloodshed after 25 years of one-party rule.

The Venezuela witnessed, on Sunday, presidential elections, in which 8 candidates competed, but the competition was limited between President Maduro and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, and both candidates announced their victory in the elections, which portends an imminent political crisis.

Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia spoke of having the evidence that he won the election.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called on people to remain calm to gather peacefully on Tuesday to celebrate the results.

They told reporters that according to more than 70% of the total ballots they received, the opposition candidate received twice as much Maduro’s votes.

Addressing supporters outside her campaign headquarters in the capital Caracas, she said, “I speak to you calmly the truth… We’ve in our hands the statistical papers that prove our definitive and irreversible victory in mathematical terms”.

The remarks came after the National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro’s United Socialist Party, officially declared victory in the election and thus granted him a third six-year term.

The Venezuela sits atop one of the world’s largest oil reserves and once boasted the most advanced economy in Latin America.

But it plunged into free fall after Maduro took power, and with plummeting oil prices and hyperinflation of 130,000, there was social unrest and then mass exodus.

The country’s crisis worsened after sanctions imposed by the United States in 2018, through which Washington sought to force him to relinquish power.