SUPPORTERS and opponents of Venezuela’s socialist government rallied in the streets again today as re-elected President Nicolas Maduro insisted no foreign-backed coup would succeed.

Foreign Minister Yvan Gil warned the European Union to back off after it demanded external verification of the results, reminding EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that “August 6 marks 200 years since the Battle of Junin, where the Liberation Army defeated the European imperialists. We are not a colony.”

Venezuela’s opposition claims, as it did in 2013 and 2018, that the election result is invalid, citing data gathered by its own supporters and differences from opinion polls conducted by pollsters with opposition links, a tactic it used to discredit Chavista victories as far back as 2006.

The Communist Party of Venezuela, which has opposed the Maduro government for several years and backed veteran anti-Chavez politician Enrique Marquez for the presidency at the election, has joined the claims that the result was based on fraud.

Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez has been recognised as president by the United States, as well as the coup regime in Peru and Argentina’s far-right government.

Washington’s decision echoes its 2019-22 recognition of opposition figure Juan Guaido as president, prompting a years-long charade in which Mr Guaido — who controlled no territory and had never even stood for the presidency — used diplomatic recognition to try to secure Venezuelan assets held abroad.

The Bank of England is still squatting on £1.3 billion of Venezuelan gold it denies to the country as a consequence of Britain’s copycat recognition of the Guaido shadow presidency.