CARACAS: Thousands of Venezuelans rallied in a peaceful demonstration of support for the opposition on Tuesday, a day after 11 people died and dozens were injured in protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s disputed presidential victory.
“Freedom! Freedom!” and “We are not afraid!” they chanted at a mass rally in the capital, Caracas, where opposition leaders insisted they had the numbers for a landslide victory.
As international calls mounted for the regime-aligned CNE to release detailed vote tallies to back its award of Sunday’s election to strongman Maduro, the president responded with threats.
According to him, the opposition would be responsible for “criminal violence… injured, dead, destruction” associated with the protests.
But human rights NGO Foro Penal said at least 11 people – including two minors – had died in what its head, Alfredo Romero, described as a “human rights crisis”.
Dozens more were injured and at least 177 arrested, he said.
Security forces on Monday fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who claimed the election had been stolen, and chants of “This government will fall!” flooded the streets.
The opposition rejects the authorities’ claim that Maduro won the presidential race with 51 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Maduro, 61, has led the once-wealthy petrostate since 2013 and is presiding over an 80 percent drop in GDP that has forced more than seven million of Venezuela’s 30 million citizens to emigrate.
He is accused of jailing critics and harassing the opposition in an atmosphere of growing authoritarianism.
Independent polls predicted that 74-year-old Gonzalez Urrutia would win by a wide margin.
When Maduro was declared the winner instead, thousands of protesters poured into the streets of several cities, some tearing up and burning his campaign posters in anger.
At least two statues of Hugo Chávez – the late authoritarian socialist who led Venezuela for more than a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor – were toppled.
Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab said on Tuesday that 749 “criminals” had been arrested at the protests and faced charges of resisting authority or “in the most serious cases of terrorism”.
The army reports 23 wounded and one death in its ranks.
Opposition supporters held peaceful rallies in several cities on Tuesday.
Thousands of people attended a rally in Caracas with Gonzalez Urrutia and Maria Corina Machado – popular opposition leaders blocked from voting by Maduro’s courts.
They waved Venezuelan flags and chanted, “Maduro dictator!” and “Edmundo the President!”
“We have to stay in the streets, we can’t let them steal our vote so brazenly,” said Carley Patino, a 47-year-old administrator in the crowd.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that he was “extremely concerned by the rising tensions in Venezuela and the disturbing reports of violence”.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Venezuelan security forces must guarantee protesters can assemble peacefully, while the White House said “any political repression or violence against protesters or the opposition is clearly unacceptable”.
Long lines formed at shops and supermarkets in Caracas on Tuesday as residents stocked up on food, toilet paper and soap during the uncertain times.
Most other shops were closed.
Addressing an opposition crowd in Caracas, retired diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia addressed security forces and said: “There is no reason for such persecution.”
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Maduro has the “absolute loyalty and unconditional support” of the armed forces as he vowed to “maintain internal order”.
Venezuela’s election was held amid widespread fears of fraud and a campaign marred by allegations of political intimidation.
The Organization of American States charged that there had been “exceptional manipulation” of the results.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and counterpart Joe Biden of the United States – both countries hosting large numbers of Venezuelan migrants – spoke on Tuesday to call on the CNE to release detailed election results.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have raised questions about the number and called for a “transparent” reckoning.
Peru on Tuesday recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate president, while Costa Rica offered him and Machado political asylum.
As international pressure mounted, Caracas withdrew diplomatic personnel from seven critical Latin American countries and asked those countries’ envoys to leave its territory.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called on third parties not to “poke their noses” into Venezuelan affairs.
