Venezuela: Protests against Maduro's contested reelection

Thousands of people took to the streets across Venezuela on Saturday to protest against the widely disputed reelection of President Nicolas Maduro.

They waved the national flag and sang the national anthem in support of an opposition candidate they believe won the presidential vote.

Authorities have declared Maduro the winner of last Sunday's election but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won.

Maduro also urged his backers to attend his own "mother of all marches" later Saturday in the capital city, Caracas.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado made a surprise appearance at the rally in Caracas after spending much of the week in hiding, saying that her life and freedom were at risk.

What did Machado say?

"After six days of brutal repression, they thought they were going to silence us, intimidate or paralyze us," Machado told her ecstatic supporters from the raised platform on a truck.

"The presence of every one of you here today represents the best of Venezuela," she said.

"We have overcome all the barriers! We have knocked them all down," she added. "Never has the regime been so weak."

Since the disputed poll, Maduro's government has arrested hundreds of opposition supporters.

The president and his supporters have also threatened to lock up Machado and her hand-picked presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, who remains in hiding, was not seen at Saturday's event.

After the rally, Machado was given a non-descript shirt and whisked away on the back of a motorcycle.

Maduro lambasts opposition

Later in the day, thousands of government supporters gathered before Maduro's office at the Miraflores national palace.

Addressing them, Maduro vilified the opposition, claiming they "represent the hatred, the division, of fascism."

He vowed to continue to use a heavy hand against his political opponents, saying 2,000 of them have been arrested already.

"This time there will be no pardon, this time there will be Tocoron," he said, referring to a notorious prison.

How did EU countries and others react?

Venezuela's CNE election authority, loyal to Maduro, on Friday proclaimed him the winner with 52% of the vote to 43% for Gonzalez.

The opposition has rejected the result.

They have launched a website with copies of 84% of ballots cast, showing an easy win for Gonzalez.The government claims these are forged.

Many countries, including the United States, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay, have rejected the results released by the election authority.

The Organization of American States called for "reconciliation and justice" in Venezuela, saying, "Let all Venezuelans who express themselves in the streets find only an echo of peace, a peace that reflects the spirit of democracy."

Seven European Union countries also called on Venezuela to publish its voting records.

The statement — from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain — expressed "strong concern" about the situation in the country following the contested presidential election.

"We call on the Venezuelan authorities to promptly publish all voting records," it read, adding that such a step was necessary to "recognise the will of the Venezuelan people." 

"The rights of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders, must be respected during this process," the statement noted. "We strongly condemn any arrest or threat against them."

What's Maduro's economic record?

Maduro, 61, has led Venezuela since 2013.

The Latin American country has the world's largest proven crude oil reserves.

It was once one of the most advanced economies in the region.

The nation's GDP has plummeted by about 80% under Maduro. It also suffers hyperinflation and widespread shortages of goods.

The economic turmoil has forced over seven million of the country's 30 million citizens to emigrate over the past decade, marking the largest exodus in Latin America's history.

sri/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)