Venezuelans protest against election result

Protesters gather on the streets of Venezuela after the contested election of President Nicolas Maduro — President Nicolás Maduro has refused to release the vote counts, and protestors gathered on the streets of Venezuela

(Image credit: Pedro Rances Mattey / Anadolu via Getty Images)

What happened

Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Venezuela yesterday after Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in an election that opposition figures say was marred by fraud.

Who said what

"It's going to fall. It's going to fall. This government is going to fall!" some of the protesters shouted.

"Public anger swelled," Al Jazeera said, after the National Electoral Council formally confirmed that President Maduro had been re-elected without releasing any tallies from the 30,000 polling stations across Venezuela.

What next?

The United States and many Latin American countries said Maduro cannot claim victory without the full release of vote counts.

Regional leftist leaders including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro "did not congratulate Mr. Maduro and instead called for the tallies to be released," said The New York Times.

As demonstrations continued Maduro claimed, without providing evidence, that an "attempt is being made to impose a coup d'etat in Venezuela." Opposition leaders dismissed the claim and called for more peaceful protests.

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Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.