Anti-Maduro Protests Expand, Supporters Also Take To The Streets

JAKARTA - Venezuelan Opponent and supporters Nicolas Maduro held a demonstration on Tuesday, July 30 local time, when protests and clashes spread after the weekend election was won by Nicolas Maduro. Opposition also claimed election victory.

Reported by Reuters, the re-occurrence caused a split international reaction. The United States said Maduro's re-elect had no credibility and considered further sanctions, while China and Russia congratulated him.

The protests began after the election council said on Monday, July 29, Maduro had won a third term with 51 percent of the vote to extend the power of a quarter-century "Chavista" movement.

The opposition, which considers the electoral agency to be in the pockets of dictatorial rule, said 73 percent of the vote count they accessed showed their candidate,fo Gonzalez, had twice as many votes as Maduro.

Venezuelan opposition Voluntud Popular said Tuesday in X his national coordinator Freddy Superlano had been detained.

The party posted and then deleted a video showing Superlano and two other people being taken out of a building.

Superlano was then put into the car by gunmen dressed in black when neighbors shouted for them to stop. The video was also uploaded by local media.

Six people have reportedly died across the country in incidents related to election tallies or related protests, according to human rights group Foro Penal.

Several protesters blocked roads, started fires and threw Molotov cocktails at police, including near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.

"We are tired of this government, we want change. We want to be free in Venezuela. We want our family back here," said a protester wearing a mask.

"I will fight for the democracy of my country. They steal elections from us," said another.

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

Many protesters ride motorbikes and block roads or fly Venezuelan flags. Some cover their faces with scarves as protection against tear gas.

The government calls them cruel agitators.

"We've watched this film before," Maduro said from the presidential palace, promising that security forces would maintain peace.

"We have followed all acts of violence promoted by the right extreme group," continued Maduro.

The armed forces have long supported him and there is no sign the generals will flee the government.

Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino described the protests as a "coup".

"There was a coup underway so President Nicolas Maduro took action to stop it again and with him the people who elected him as president, all institutions, Bolivarian armed forces and democracy institutions," Padrino said on state television on Tuesday.

"We will beat the coup," he added.

Di Coro, the capital of Falcon state, protesters cheered and danced as they knocked down a statue depicting former President Hugo Chavez, Maduro's mentor who ruled 1999-2013.

The local monitoring group, Venezuela's Conflict Observatory, said it had recorded 187 protests in 20 states at 6pm, Monday, July 29.