OAS announces decision after Venezuelan presidential elections

• Venezuelan elections under international scrutiny.
• Mass protests in Caracas.
• Opposition claims to have evidence of fraud.

The Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) announced a decision following the controversial elections in Venezuela.

The OAS has called an extraordinary meeting to address the controversial results of the presidential elections in Venezuela, according to Efe.

The Permanent Council meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, was requested by 12 member countries, including the United States, Canada, Guatemala and Argentina.

The announcement of the re-election of Nicolás Maduro as president has triggered a wave of protests in the Venezuelan capital.

VENEZUELANS REACT TO THE ELECTION RESULTS

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas on Monday to express their rejection of the election results.

Meanwhile, opposition leader María Corina Machado, along with candidate Edmundo González, declared that they do not recognize Maduro’s victory.

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They also claimed to have evidence of Gonzalez’s victory, according to AP.

María Corina Machado said that the opposition has 73.20% of the votes, which, according to her, confirms that Edmundo González is the president-elect of Venezuela.

At a press conference, Machado called on his supporters to rally in Caracas to demonstrate their strength and majority, promising to publicly release evidence.

In Petare, the largest and poorest neighborhood in Caracas, residents marched shouting slogans against Maduro.

Young people with covered faces tore down posters of the president’s campaign, while others chanted «And it will fall, and it will fall, this government will fall!»

The protests spread to other areas of the city, such as Las Mercedes, where demonstrators were dispersed with tear gas by the national police.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) officially proclaimed Maduro won with 51% of the votes compared to González’s 44%.

During the ceremony, Maduro denounced an attempted coup d’état by his opponents.

Meanwhile, several countries, including the United States and Canada, have rejected the results and demanded a review of the vote.

In response, the Venezuelan government ordered the withdrawal of its diplomatic personnel from several Latin American countries and asked those governments to do the same with their personnel in Venezuela.

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