Thousands protest against Maduro in Venezuela, police use tear gas

Venezuela’s opposition called for nationwide demonstrations today to honor the victory of its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia in July’s presidential election and against authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro. More than 5,000 people gathered in Caracas early local time, Reuters reported. In other cities, hundreds of people demonstrated, and in Maracay, police used tear gas to disperse them. Venezuelans abroad also joined the protests, with dozens gathering in Prague.

photo: SITA/AP, Fernando Vergara

Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela.

“I’m here today to support (opposition leaders) Maria Collina (Machad) and Edmundo (González Urrutia),” theology student Jesus Aguilar, 21, told Reuters. “We know that with the government’s wishes we can’t develop, and I even found myself trying to leave the country,” he added.

Hundreds of people gathered in Maracaiba in the morning. “The worst is over, we are no longer afraid,” Noraima Rodríguez, 52, told Reuters. “My daughter died because the hospital had no medical supplies. I have nothing to lose, but I want my grandchildren to have a future,” she added.

Dozens of protesters who gathered in Maracay in the morning were quickly dispersed by tear gas. Hundreds of people demonstrated in Valencia, San Cristóbal and Barquisimete. Many of them waved Venezuelan flags. In addition to banners with protest inscriptions, some brought copies of the election results.

Last week, the opposition called on the government to negotiate the transfer of power after the presidential elections, in which both sides claimed to be the winner. However, at the moment Maduro is talking about the fact that he wants to use harsh measures and the severity of justice against the opposition protests. According to the authorities, 2,400 people have been detained in connection with the protests, of which 25 have died.

The government-controlled Central Election Commission declared Maduro the winner but did not release detailed results, drawing criticism from several countries in the region, the United States and the European Union. Some countries, including the United States and Argentina, recognized opposition candidate Edmond Gonzalez as the winner.

The opposition released data from 81% of polling stations, saying that these data showed Gonzalez won with 67% of the votes. Similarly, according to calculations by the Associated Press, based on data from about 80% of polling stations, opposition candidate Gonzalez won with 6.9 million votes. Based on this calculation, Maduro came in second with 3 million votes.