New protests in Venezuela as anger grows over disputed election results

Fresh protests have broken out in Venezuela's capital Caracas after the country's presidential election results were disputed.

Thousands gathered in the city center to show their opposition to President Nicolas Maduro's bid for victory.

Many say they will not stop until there is a new government, while others say this will only be achieved if the security forces join forces with the opposition protesters.

However, the military and police have so far remained loyal to Mr Maduro and have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at some protesters.

Local officials say around 750 people have been arrested. Two of the leading private organizations in the country say that many people have died and dozens have been injured.

On Tuesday Venezuela's defense minister described the protests as a “coup”.

Surrounded by armed soldiers, General Vladimir Padrino read a statement saying that President Nicolás Maduro has the “total loyalty and unconditional support” of the military.

Venezuela's attorney general, who is very close to Mr Maduro, said a soldier had been killed in anti-government protests.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called for the protests to be peaceful.

“We must continue in a peaceful way. We must not fall into the chaos that the government has set for us. They want to make the people of Venezuela face each other,” he said.

“Our candidate won 70% of the votes. We united the country, the people of Venezuela who once believed in Maduro are with us today.”

Another anti-government protester, who did not want to be named because he was afraid of the consequences of the security forces, told the BBC that they had seen evidence of fraud in the election.

“We are sure that the election was stolen. I worked at the polling station. The government doesn't see that, they stopped all the counting of votes in the middle of the night. They don't want the country to know that they have lost,” they said.

They said Venezuelans who were supporters of former leader Hugo Chavez, known as Chavistas, have withdrawn their support for Mr Maduro.

“This is a peaceful protest. This is part of the upper class of Caracas. What we saw yesterday was violence. I believe that people who were Chavistas are no longer Chavistas,” they said.

“I think people hope for change. There will probably be violence.”

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.

However, on Monday the CNE doubled down, announcing that all the votes hsad been counted and that Mr Maduro was the winner.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Tarek Saab, a long-time ally of Mr Maduro, warned that those arrested 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.

This group warned that the government is strengthening its hand in suppressing the activists who keep demanding the publication of the results in the voting centers.

Julio Derbis from Petare, one of the slums on the outskirts of the city, said: “We will fight, we hope with the pressure from the streets, we will overthrow what the president is doing, which is his clinging to power.

“The police are our neighbors, we live together, and they should understand that they need to unite in fighting for the good of all of us.”

Another protester, Karina Pinto, said that these protests feel different from previous protests against the government.

“We have to go to the streets, that's the only way. We are not against violence, but they are violent. We have to answer,” he said.

“The security forces need to be on our side, they are also from Venezuela. They will not oppose us, we are human beings.”

In another part of the city, President Maduro's groups also gathered to show their support.

Nancy Ramones, another vice president, said: “I am not against anything, I support my government, which won.” Nicolas Maduro. And I support him because he is a man who stands for peace.”

“What the opposition parties say, they have never presented evidence. If they say there is fraud, they must prove it. Fraud did not happen. They always have a hidden agenda.

“This is a coup that we will not allow, we are patriots. We are Venezuelans, we love peace.”

Milagros Arocha said: “Here is the real winner is Nicolas Maduro, here are the people, representing Nicolas Maduro. We want peace.”

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.

The United Nations human rights chief said he is deeply concerned about the escalation of conflict and violence in Venezuela. Volker Turk called on the authorities to respect the rights of all Venezuelans to peaceful assembly and protest.