Venezuela’s defense minister described the anti-government protests that erupted after the election results were announced as a “coup”.
People we went on the roads through the cities and towns of Venezuela Protests erupted on Monday after state-run electoral authorities declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the election.
Two of the leading NGOs in Venezuela have said that many people have died and many have been injured.
While people gathered in new protest rallies, General Vladimir Padrino read a statement saying that President Nicolás Maduro has the “total loyalty and unconditional support” of the armed forces, which “will defeat the coup”.
Venezuela’s attorney general, who is very close to Mr. Maduro, said a member of the military was killed in anti-government protests.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab added that 749 people have been arrested.
He told reporters that most would be charged with “resistance to authority and, in the most serious cases, terrorism”.
The opposition group Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) said that among those arrested is their national political coordinator, Freddy Superlano.
The organization warned that the government is strengthening its hand in suppressing the activists who have been demanding the publication of the results in the polling stations, which the opposition parties say proves that the person who was going to oppose them won.
Protests broke out after the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE) – who is a member of Mr Maduro’s party and has served as his legal adviser – announced that the president had been re-elected for a third consecutive term.
The CNE previously announced that Mr Maduro won with 51% of the vote, ahead of Edmundo González with 44%.
However, election officials have so far failed to publish detailed vote tallies, which the opposition says shows the result announced by the CNE was fraudulent.
The regional organization of American states, the Organization of American States (OAS), accused the Venezuelan government of completely distorting the results.
The opposition coalition supporting Mr González said they were able to review 73.2% of the vote count and stressed that they had confirmed that Mr González was the winner by a wide margin.
“We have records that show our victory is statistically irreversible,” said Mr. González.
Opposition parties have rallied behind Mr González in a bid to oust President Maduro after 11 years in power, amid widespread discontent.
About 7.8 million people have fled the economic and political crisis that has rocked the country under the Maduro Administration.
On Monday, crowds chanted “freedom, freedom” and called for the government to fall.
In some places, posters of President Maduro have been torn down and burned while burning tires, cars and garbage.
Miguel Sarzalejo, 64, told the BBC that “we want a better future for young people because otherwise they will leave the country”.
“We have a rich country and he is destroying everything,” he added referring to President Maduro.
The opposition has called on its supporters to gather peacefully in public squares across the country on Tuesday while the government has asked its supporters to unite.
The spokesperson of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephan Dujarric, said that the people of Venezuela must be allowed to exercise their right to peaceful protest.
“It is important that all political leaders and their followers renounce all forms of violence, threats of violence or incitement to violence. And, as is the case in all countries, it is important that the authorities respect the right of people to protest peacefully and that they must protect that right and not prevent it.”
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