Venezuela election unrest updates: Demonstrations as Maduro declared winner

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You can read more of our coverage of Venezuela’s elections here.

This live page will soon be closed, but Al Jazeera will continue to bring you the major updates from Venezuela. Here are the major updates from today.

• Police fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at thousands of protesters who gathered in the capital, Caracas, with at least two people reported killed.
• A government monitor has said six people have been killed in protests since yesterday, with 132 people detained. Among the dead are two teenagers.
• The Organization of American States (OAS) has joined a chorus of international observers saying they could not recognise Venezuela’s election results. The regional group cited a “coordinated strategy … to undermine the integrity of the electoral process”.
• Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino has said President Nicolas Maduro has the “absolute loyalty and unconditional support” of the country’s armed forces.

In a post on X, the non-governmental organisation Foro Penal said at least six people have been confirmed killed in protests since yesterday.

Another 132 people have been detained, the group said in an update today.

Among those killed were a 16-year-old in Yaracuy state and a 16-year-old in Zulia state.

The US has called on Venezuela to provide greater transparency on the vote counting process. If they do not, Washington is mulling new sanctions on the Latin American country, people familiar with discussions told the Reuters news agency.

The US had previously sanctioned some board members of Venezuela’s election board in similar situations. Washington in April also snapped back sanctions on the energy industry that it had broadly eased in October.

That means US officials would have limited options when it comes to new measures. The sources told Reuters the options currently being discussed include individual sanctions or US travel bans on Venezuelan officials.

In a briefing on Monday, senior US officials said that electoral manipulation had stripped Maduro’s claim of victory of “any credibility”.

The election has been clouded by reports of irregularities, including fraud and voter intimidation.

While the National Electoral Council has declared current president Nicolas Maduro the winner, the opposition party continues to claim their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has won.

So what happens next?

Independent journalist Paul Dobson says the current crisis the government faces over the election results is easy to fix.

“The way to resolve it is for the National Electoral Council [CNE] to follow tradition and publish the paper ballots which back up the results,” he told Al Jazeera from Merida, Venezuela.

“In every Venezuelan election they do this and put them on their website, and there is full transparency for all of the Venezuelans to see,” Dobson said. “This has not been done this time and this is causing great suspicion.”

But the CNE claims the voting system was hacked on Sunday and it hasn’t been able to restore the facilities yet, he noted.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running in the poll but has spearheaded the campaign for Edmundo Gonzalez, has called for marches.

“My dear Venezuelans … we meet as a family, organised, demonstrating the determination we have to make every vote count and defend the truth,” she said.

The government is also planning pro-Maduro rallies with many Venezuelans fearing another bout of violence and bloodshed similar to others in its turbulent recent history.

In 2014, 2017 and 2019 waves of anti-government protests led to hundreds of deaths and failed to dislodge Maduro.

Lots of tension on the streets of Venezuela with violent clashes between security forces and protesters. The opposition has asked people to take to the streets again in front of the United Nations office in Caracas.

They want supporters to demand that the international community acknowledge vote fraud was committed, saying they have proof of the irregularities that happened on Sunday. They say they possess 73 percent of the vote tally sheets – supposedly hidden by the government – that prove Edmundo Gonzalez should be president.

At the same time, the government of Nicolas Maduro has called on supporters to show their endorsement. The military chief has addressed national television saying a coup d’etat is taking place that’s organised by “imperialism”.

The attorney-general, meanwhile, said the protesters are not peaceful, they’re setting tyres and buildings on fire, and being paid by the opposition. The government has warned those who question the election could be detained between three to six years in prison.

Lots of reports of paramilitary groups facing off against civilians in the capital, Caracas.

Venezuelan security forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated rounds at demonstrators angered by the announcement that Nicolas Maduro won Sunday’s presidential election.

Thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital, Caracas, chanting “Freedom, freedom,” and “This government is going to fall.” At least two people were killed.

See images from Monday’s violent demonstrations here.

Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino says President Nicolas Maduro has the “absolute loyalty and unconditional support” of the armed forces as protests spread over his disputed re-election.

Maduro is “our commander in chief who has been legitimately re-elected”, Padrino, dressed in military fatigues and surrounded by troops, said in a televised message.

“I call on all political factions – especially the opposition that has done so much damage to Venezuela – to accept our democratic and constitutional policies so we can honour the Venezuelan people who are asking for understanding, cooperation, and dialogue.”

Tarek William Saab warns the number could grow in the coming hours as anti-Maduro demonstrations continue.

“There are 749 of these criminals detained,” Saab told journalists, adding most would be charged with “resisting authority and, in the most serious cases, terrorism.”

Venezuela’s opposition party Voluntad Popular says its national coordinator Freddy Superlano has been detained.

The party made the statement on X as tensions over the disputed presidential election continue in the country.

The Organization of American States’s (OAS) election observation department says it cannot recognise the results proclaimed by Venezuela’s national electoral council declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner of Sunday’s contest.

A report released by the group stated the events of election night confirmed a “coordinated strategy, which has been unfolding over the last few months, to undermine the integrity of the electoral process”.

It also contained accounts of illegalities and malpractices that occurred during this particular electoral process and in recent ones in Venezuela.

The OAS is set to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the election on Wednesday, as many Latin American leaders have rejected the results or said that greater transparency is needed.

Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has asked Venezuela’s security forces to “stop the repression” after a day of deadly violence and more protests planned.

He noted reports of “dozens injured and detained” after Monday’s clashes

“My solidarity is with the people in the face of their justified indignation,” Gonzalez said. “We urge the security forces to respect the will expressed on July 28 and stop the repression of peaceful demonstrations. We Venezuelans want peace and respect for the popular will. The truth is the way to peace.”

The opposition says Gonzalez secured 70 percent of the vote and it has evidence to back it up although it hasn’t yet produced the proof.

Mi solidaridad está con el pueblo ante su justificada indignación. Lamentablemente, en las últimas horas tenemos reportes de personas fallecidas, decenas de heridos y detenidos. Instamos a las fuerzas de seguridad a respetar la voluntad expresada el 28 de julio y detener la…

— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) July 30, 2024

• Thousands of people protested across Venezuela to show their anger against the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro with at least two killed during clashes.
• “I say to the plotters – to those involved and to those who endorse this operation against Venezuelan democracy – that we already know the movie. And this time there will be no weakness,” Maduro said.
• The election results are a cause for concern across the region with governments demanding a transparent vote count and others demanding the electoral data be verified by independent actors.
• Venezuela’s electoral authority declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of Sunday’s election with 51 percent of the vote against opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez’s 44 percent.
• The opposition not only disputes the official results but says Gonzalez won the election with 70 percent of the vote, adding it has the data to back it up.

Follow this page for round-the-clock updates on the tense situation in Venezuela as the fallout from the electoral council’s declaration of President Nicolas Maduro as Sunday’s election winner continues to reverberate.

For all of Monday’s live news see here.