VIOLENT PROTESTS broke out in places across the Venezuelan capital Caracas on July 29, in the aftermath of the country’s presidential election.

Far-right mobs have attempted to block major roads, including the road next to the Simon Bolivar International Airport, and have attacked buses, police cars, and members of the country’s security forces.

The protests seem to be in response to calls by the defeated far-right opposition that on Sunday evening refused to recognise the victory of Nicolas Maduro.
 
In response to these incidents, different Venezuelan officials have called for a return to peace and an end to the violent protests.

The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez declared in a press conference on Monday evening that the agenda of the right wing was always to provoke violence and disturb the rule of law faced with the impossibility of winning at the polls.

He also stated that the Venezuelan government had foiled several attempts to attack vital infrastructure on Sunday.
 
The right-wing opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado also held a press conference on Monday night to declare that they had their own data which confirms that they in fact won the elections with 73 per cent of the votes.

This supposed exclusive data that they collected comes from a New Jersey-based company, Edison Research. According to a report by journalist Ben Norton, the company which did an exit poll on Sunday is “closely linked to the US government and does work for US state propaganda outlets that were founded by the CIA.”

The apparent political nature of the exit poll company has led many to question the veracity of the data, especially given the wide difference between the official results and other leading pollsters.
 
Progressive organisations and platforms from across the world have denounced the destabilisation attempts, with many alleging that the protests are co-ordinated and likely backed by the US.
 
A statement released by the US-based Party for Socialism and Liberation reads: “Nearly every major corporate media outlet based in the US and other Western countries covered the story based around the same basic narrative — a result that couldn’t possibly be true.

“If any evidence at all is being cited to back up the right-wing’s claims of fraud, it is ludicrously biased pre-election surveys conducted by opposition-aligned polling companies that suggested Gonzalez had higher support.

“What we are witnessing is a familiar pattern in the US campaign to overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution — the process of socialist transformation that began with the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998.

“When the US government thinks that the right-wing opposition has a chance of succeeding at the ballot box, then they participate in elections. When they lose the vote, they turn back to street violence and coup attempts.”
 
US-based organisations the People’s Forum and the Answer Coalition wrote in a statement: “Democracy is under attack as the far right mobilises violent protests to attempt to overthrow President Maduro who won yesterday’s elections.

“History shows us that these coup attempts are often orchestrated directly by Washington and by allies of US imperialism. Stand on the side of the people and for democracy! Hands off Venezuela!”
 
On Monday, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced that the country’s diplomatic personnel in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Dominican Republic and Uruguay would be withdrawn in response to the attempts by the governments of these countries to attack and undermine the electoral process.

The ministry stated, “Venezuela expresses its strong rejection to the meddling actions and declarations of a group of right-wing governments, subordinated to Washington and committed openly with the most sordid ideological positions of international fascism, attempting to revise the failed and defeated Lima Group, that are attempting to disregard the electoral results of the presidential polls carried out this Sunday July 28 2024.”
 
Chavista movements and organisations have called for people to mobilise to the centre of Caracas to defend their vote and peace in Venezuela.

This article appeared on Peoplesdispatch.org.