Venezuelans protest as observers say presidential vote undemocratic

By Deisy Buitrago and Mayela Armas

CARACAS (Reuters) -Protesters took to the streets across Venezuela on Tuesday, demanding that President Nicolas Maduro acknowledge he lost Sunday's election to the opposition, as a major international observer concluded the vote was undemocratic.

The protests, which the government denounced as an attempted "coup," began on Monday after the South American country's electoral authority declared that Maduro had won a third term with 51% of votes to extend a quarter-century of socialist rule.

The opposition, which considers the election body to be in the pocket of a dictatorial government, says its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had more than twice as many votes as Maduro based on the 90% of vote tallies it has been able to access.

At least 11 people have been killed in different parts of the country since the election in incidents related to the count or associated protests, according to rights group Foro Penal.

The U.S.-based Carter Center, which observed the vote, said in a statement late on Tuesday the election "did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic."

The electoral authority's failure to publish disaggregated results amounts to a "serious breach," it added, outlining what it determined to be a deeply flawed process from start to finish.

Many countries have called on Venezuela to make the vote tally public and U.S. sources said Washington was considering fresh sanctions on individuals linked to the election unless there was greater transparency.

On Tuesday, both Maduro and his top legislative ally accused Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado of fomenting violence in the aftermath of the vote.

In a winding speech broadcast on state television, Maduro declared that opposition protesters had battered civilians and started fires, demanding that Gonzalez answer for them.

"Respond to that you coward!" Maduro shouted, after saying both Gonzalez and Machado should be held accountable.

Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the Congress for Maduro's ruling socialists, was more direct in a speech earlier in the day, insisting that both opposition figures must be arrested for the crimes of the protesters.

"Their bosses should go to prison," he told lawmakers, accusing Gonzalez of leading a "fascist conspiracy."

Costa Rica said it was prepared to give political asylum to Machado and Gonzalez. On X, Machado thanked the government but said her priority was to "continue this struggle" from Venezuela.

The embattled Maduro, who also called for more marches, said in his speech that his government was reaching out to both China and Russia for help with alleged attacks on the electoral authority's systems, blaming billionaire Elon Musk for them without presenting evidence.

Echoing other officials, Maduro's defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino, declared that there was a "coup in progress" but insisted that the country's armed forces would help defeat it.

The 61-year-old president is a former union leader and foreign minister who won an election after former President Hugo Chavez's death in 2013. Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a vote the opposition says was fraudulent.

He has presided over an economic collapse and a mass exodus of Venezuelans, while U.S. and EU sanctions have crippled an already struggling oil industry.

A Maduro win could spur more migration from Venezuela, once the continent's wealthiest country, which in recent years has seen a third of its population leave.

'FRAUD BY THE REGIME'

Opposition leader Machado was barred from running in the election but spearheaded Gonzalez's campaign. For the first time on Tuesday she accused Maduro's government of a corrupt vote count.

"What we are fighting here is a fraud by the regime," Machado said, while urging peaceful protest.

A large crowd, many waving Venezuelan flags, chanted: "We are not afraid!"

"Edmundo is the president. We know he won the election," said 27-year-old brokerage worker Andrea Garcia. "We want to live in the Venezuela that our parents had, where there wasn't hunger in the streets."

The opposition has long denounced obstacles over candidate registrations, detentions of opposition members and even a confusing ballot lay-out.

The Carter Center agreed with those criticisms in its statement.

"Authorities frequently attempted to restrict the opposition's campaign activities," it said. "This included harassment or intimidation of people who provided services or goods to the main opposition campaign."

The CNE electoral authority, which formally proclaimed Maduro president for the 2025-2031 term on Monday, demonstrated clear bias in his favor, the Center added, while in-country voters faced short registration deadlines and most of the country's large diaspora was disenfranchised arbitrarily.

But the opposition's options going forward appear limited given the military has shown no sign it will break from its long-standing support for Maduro and previous cycles of anti-government protests and sanctions have failed to dislodge him.

Opposition protesters marched in several cities on Tuesday. In some locations Reuters witnesses saw protesters attacked by security forces. Many stores remained closed.

In Valencia, a protester spray-painted "fraud" on the road.

At pro-Maduro demonstrations, meanwhile, marchers danced and motorcycle-riding supporters revved their engines, insisting the election is over.

"We're here to peacefully support an election which has already given its result," said teacher Carmen Torres, 36, adding that despite some doubts she preferred Maduro to a "neoliberal" government.

On Monday, protesters had blocked roads, lit fires and threw petrol bombs at police, and police responded by firing tear gas.

In Coro, capital of Falcon state, on the Caribbean coast, protesters cheered when they tore down a statue of Chavez, Maduro's mentor who ruled from 1999-2013.

Amid the dueling protests, security agents arrested at least two more opposition leaders.

Voluntad Popular's national coordinator Freddy Superlano was detained, as was Ricardo Estevez, a senior official with Vente Venezuela, the parties said in posts on X.

Many Venezuelans have said any decision they make on whether to join the exodus from the country would be dependent on the election.

"It feels like I no longer have anything to do here in Venezuela," said 23-year-old graduate Jorge Salcedo in Caracas.

"We'll start from scratch in another country ... We live in a country with repression, and we live in a country under dictatorship. It was our last chance."

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera, Deisy Buitrago, Mayela Armas and Julia Symmes Cobb in Caracas; Additional reporting by Keren Torres in Barquisimeto, Tibisay Romero in Valencia, Tathiana Ortiz in San Cristobal, Mariela Nava in Maracaibo, Mircely Guanipa in Maracay and Maria Ramirez in Puerto Ordaz; Writing by Rosalba O'Brien and David Alire Garcia; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Chizu Nomiyama, Daniel Wallis and Michael Perry)