Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused the Western-backed opposition of attempting a coup, and condemned widespread rioting in the wake of President Nicolas Maduro’s election victory.
Protests broke out across Venezuela after the national electoral authority declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the election on Monday. Edmundo Gonzalez, the runner-up, claimed victory and thousands of his supporters took to the streets to protest alleged vote rigging.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Padrino accused the protesters of “acts of sabotage” and destroying government buildings, including 100 electoral centers and offices of the National Electoral Council (CNE).
Padrino stated that these “expressions of hatred and irrationality” are part of a “preconceived plan” by US-backed political groups. He accused the anti-Maduro protesters of attempting a coup with the support of “North American imperialism and its external and internal allies.”
”We are witnessing fascism at its maximum expression, of an international structure that is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to discredit the extraordinary demonstration of civility that the Venezuelan people showed on the last election day,” he claimed.
Padrino promised to suppress any coup attempts but called for dialogue and urged all political forces to follow Venezuelan law and take the “path of democracy.”
“As is well known, history has reliably demonstrated that the path of violence does not lead to anything positive,” Padrino warned.
The CNE announced on Sunday that with 80% of ballots counted, Maduro had secured more than 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for his only rival, Gonzales. All other opposition candidates had withdrawn and backed Gonzales.
Addressing his supporters at a CNE event where he was proclaimed the winner, Nicolas Maduro mocked the opposition, which he said “cries fraud” at every election.
Maduro has won a third consecutive six-year term, having first taken office in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan president said his re-election would bring peace and stability.