Venezuela Elections: Protests Erupt After Maduro's Win; Opposition Claim Landslide Victory 'Stolen'

Days after Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the Venezuela Presidential Elections, massive protests have erupted in the capital of Caracas. Venezuelans were met with tear gas shells from the police as they protested the results of the presidential elections held on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the opposition party claimed that their landslide victory had been stolen from them. Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Venezuelans Bang Pots & Pans In Anger, Threaten To Leave The Country

Sunday's election results triggered a "cacerolazos", which is a traditional Latin American protest where people bang pots and pans to express their anger.

Police officials charged with shields and batons in the Venezuelan capital and fired tear gas to disperse the protestors.

Nicolas Maduro has been in power since 2013, following the death of his predecessor Hugo Chavez. With Sunday's election results, Maduro welcomed his third consecutive term.

Maduro's return to office also sparks the return of "Chavismo", the left-wing populist ideology in the country.

Meanwhile, in Coro, protestors tore down the statue of Hugo Chavez. As per the Venezuelan Conflict Observatory stated that 187 protests were recorded on Monday across 23 states in the country.

With Maduro's return confirmed, many Venezuelans have also stated that they would leave the country, citing the ongoing collapse of Venezuela's economy and violent repression under the Chavismo rule.

Final Results For Disputed Election Awaited

The results of the Venezuelan Elections are disputed. Officially, the National Electoral Council declared Maduro as the winner.

As per the CNE, with 80 percent of the ballots, Maduro secured 51.2 percent of the votes while Gonzalez received 44.2 percent of the votes.

The official count is awaited. However, the opposition has claimed that Gonzalez had received over six million votes whereas Maduro received only 2.7 million votes.

The results have also been rejected by many countries such as the United STates and fellow Latin American countries.

While the US stated the results do not "reflect the people's will", Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay refused to recognise the results and recalled their diplomatic staff in Venezuela.