The situation in Venezuela is explosive after Sunday’s election result where thousands of protesters descended on the center of Caracas on Monday night, questioning the victory of Nicolas Maduro.

Dozens of protesters were arrested on charges of either destroying election materials or inciting violence, while the head of a rights group called Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, told Platform X that one person had died in the northwestern state of Yaracuy during the demonstrations.

Venezuela

Security forces in Venezuela fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets at the angry crowd in an attempt to prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.

“Freedom, freedom!” chanted the protesters demanding the government fall.

In some areas, posters of President Maduro were torn down and burned, while tires, cars and garbage were also set on fire. Armed police, military and left-wing paramilitaries clashed with protesters and blocked several streets around the city center.

Despite Nicolás Maduro claiming yesterday to be the big winner of the election, the opposition disputed the victory claim, saying its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won convincingly with 73.2% of the vote.

“I speak to you with the calmness of the truth,” Gonzalez said as dozens of supporters applauded outside his headquarters in Caracas. “We have in our hands the tally sheets that show our unequivocal and mathematically irreversible victory.”

Opposition parties had rallied behind Mr Gonzalez in a bid to oust President Maduro after 11 years in power amid widespread discontent over the country’s economic crisis.

A number of Western and Latin American countries, as well as international bodies, including the UN, have asked Venezuelan authorities to release voting records from individual polling stations.

Venezuela

Argentina is a country that refused to recognize President Maduro’s election victory and in response recalled diplomats from Buenos Aires. Also, diplomats from six more Latin American countries – Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay – also withdrew over what Foreign Minister Ivan Gill described on social media as “intrusive actions and statements”.

The Venezuelan government also announced a temporary suspension of commercial air flights to and from Venezuela with Panama and the Dominican Republic from 20:00 local time on Wednesday.

Venezuela’s attorney general warned that closing roads or violating any law related to unrest in the context of protests will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.