María Corina Machado tells Guardian that Nicolás Maduro should understand he lost presidential election, amid widespread international doubts over victory claim
The opposition leader battling to bring the curtains down on Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime has urged the Venezuelan strongman to accept that his exit from power is inevitable. The call came as thousands of protesters hit the streets to repudiate Maduro’sVenezuela’s incumbent president was officially proclaimed the victor of Sunday’s election by the government-controlled electoral authority on Monday morning.
Maduro has claimed he beat González, with more than 5.1m votes to his rival’s 4.4m. But Machado, who some call Venezuela’s “iron lady”, insisted her candidate had in fact prevailed with more than 6.2m votes compared to Maduro’s 2.7m. Remarkably, many of those protesters came from sprawling hillside slums long considered bastions of the chavismo movement that has governed Venezuela for the last 25 years.
As the Petare protesters strode west towards the city centre and the presidential palace, they chanted: “Petare is here. And Edmundo isThroughout the day social media filled with reports of opposition marches originating in poor communities across town and clashes with security forces and pro-Maduro motorbike gangs known as colectivos who were filmed shooting into the air.
On Monday night there were also reports that protesters had stormed the Maiquetía international airport on the coast just north of Caracas. At least one incoming flight was delayed.
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