CARACAS: New demonstrations were expected in Venezuela on Tuesday, after four people died and dozens were injured when the authorities broke up protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s claim of victory in a hotly disputed election.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday at angry protesters challenging the official results, which were questioned by the opposition and neighboring countries. Thousands of people flooded the streets of several neighborhoods in the capital Caracas, chanting “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government is going to fall!”
Some ripped down and burned Maduro campaign posters while at least two statues of Hugo Chavez — the late authoritarian socialist who led Venezuela for more than a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor — were knocked down by protesters.
In addition to the deaths, 44 were reported injured, according to the National Hospital Survey, a network that monitors crises in the country’s hospitals
Two of the dead were in the state of Aragua and one in Caracas, the network said. The NGO Foro Penal meanwhile reported one more dead in the northwestern state of Yaracuy.
Amid growing fears of violence, a leading figure in the opposition coalition, Freddy Superlano, was “kidnapped” by black-clad officials, his Voluntad Popular said on X.
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