Venezuelans take to streets to protest Maduro's election victory

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities on Monday following the disputed victory of President Nicolas Maduro in Sunday's presidential elections.

Videos of people setting fire to Maduro's election posters and toppling a statue of Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, are circulating on social media. Others are chanting "And he will fall, and he will fall, this government will fall," while some protesters are banging pots and pans in protest.

Streets and roads have been blocked by tires on fire and the police are firing teargas to disperse demonstrators who are getting close to the Miraflores Palace, the president's residence.

Spontaneous protests first broke out in popular sectors of Caracas and then began to spread rapidly throughout the city and other parts of the country.

Demonstrations are taking place a day after the electoral authority announced that Maduro had been re-elected to another six-year term as president with 51% of the vote against 44% received by opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez.

The opposition has rejected the outcome, claiming that the results do not correspond to the votes cast. Several exit polls that were disclosed during the day showed a win for opposition candidate Gonzalez and the electoral body has not released the tallies from the polling stations across the country. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that Gonzalez had more than 70 percent of the votes tallied.

World leaders and election observers have cast doubts on Maduro´s claim of victory and have demanded the full release of vote counts.