Protests broke out in Venezuela on Tuesday, July 30, after Nicolás Maduro was formally declared the winner by the electoral authority.
According to CNN, the protestors came out in the streets after the disputed election results that announced authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro on Monday. The demonstrators were seen walking down the main roads in the capital, Caracas, banging pans and pots in anger.
The security forces deployed tear gas to disperse the large crowd of demonstrators. PROVEA, a Venezuelan human rights organization, claimed that pro-Maduro armed groups shot at the peaceful demonstrators in Avenue Urdaneta.
Opposition activist Esthefania Natera told CNN that Venezuelans are out ‘to yell and demand to tell the truth because we know the real results.’
Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told the supporters that they had obtained over 70% of the of the tally sheets in the disputed elections.
Gonzalez asserted, “I speak to you with the calmness of the truth. The will expressed yesterday through your vote will be respected. We have in our hands the tally sheets that demonstrate our victory."
Moreover, National Electoral Council (CNE) president Elvis Amoroso, while announcing the results, formally said, “Venezuela has the best electoral system in the world!”
To note, the opposition parties of the countries got united behind Gonzalez to unseat the president after 11 years in office.
