Venezuelan president-elect Nicolas Maduro claimed today that opposition leaders who have called for protests following Sunday's presidential election are seeking a coup against his government.
Violent clashes at opposition protests over the disputed election have killed seven people, officials said today, as both sides mobilised supporters nationwide for new demonstrations.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has demanded a full recount of votes after results showed a narrow victory for late president Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro.
The election authority has ruled out a recount, raising fears of more violence in the South American nation, which has the world's largest oil reserves. The country saw waves of street protests during various parts of Chavez's tumultuous 14-year socialist rule.
The deaths happened yesterday when hundreds of protesters took to the streets in various parts of the capital Caracas and other cities, blocking streets, burning tires and fighting with security forces in some cases. Officials also said 135 people were arrested in the post-election violence.
State media and officials said the fatalities included two people shot by opposition sympathisers while celebrating Maduro's victory in a middle-class area of Caracas.
One person died in an attack on a government-run clinic in a central state. Two, including a policeman, were killed in an Andean border state, officials said.
"We will defeat this violent fascism with democracy," said foreign minister Elias Jaua, describing incidents and showing video footage to a group of ambassadors.
"Those who attempt to take with force what they could not acquire through elections are not democrats."
There was no immediate response from the opposition, and Capriles' camp reiterated demands for peaceful protests today as thousands of his supporters marched to regional election offices around the country.
After Sunday's vote, Capriles refused to recognise the results, and his followers poured into the streets. In Caracas last night opposition supporters banged pots and pans, and Maduro backers responded with fireworks and music.
In a wealthy district of Caracas, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets in a battle running with masked, rock-wielding opposition supporters. Motorcyclists drove in circles around a pile of burning trash along the capital's principal highway.
Capriles said his team's figures show he won the election and he wants a full recount. The National Electoral Council said an audit of 54 per cent of the voting stations, in a widely respected electronic vote system, had already been carried out.
The election was triggered by the death of Chavez last month after a two-year battle with cancer. He named Maduro as his successor before he died and his protege won the election with 50.8 per cent of the vote against Capriles' 49.0 per cent.
"Where are the opposition politicians who believe in democracy?" Maduro said, blaming Mr Capriles for the violence.
Capriles, the governor of Miranda state, hopes to highlight the weakness of Maduro's mandate and stir up opposition anger over his charge that the electoral council is biased in favor of the ruling Socialist Party.
The strategy could backfire if demonstrations turn into prolonged disturbances, such as those the opposition led between 2002 and 2004, which sometimes blocked roads for days with trash and burning tires and annoyed many Venezuelans.
A return to protracted trouble in the streets could renew questions about the opposition's democratic credentials on the heels of their best showing in a presidential election, and just as Capriles has consolidated himself as its leader.
Senior government figures have raised the possibility of legal action against Capriles.
"Fascist Capriles, I will personally ensure you pay for the damage you are doing to our fatherland and people," National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello said on Twitter, saying he would seek a criminal investigation by state prosecutors.
But the opposition leader said he will fight on.
"We are not going to ignore the will of the people. We believe we won ... we want this problem resolved peacefully," Capriles told a news conference.
"There is no majority here, there are two halves."
Opposition sources said their count showed Capriles won by more than 300,000 votes.
His team said it has evidence of some 3,200 election day irregularities, from voters using fake IDs to intimidation of volunteers at polling centers. It sought an exhaustive check of the paper-ballots printed at the time of casting a vote.
Reuters