Caracas erupts: Mass protests follow disputed Maduro victory

Thousands of residents of Caracas took to the streets to protest against the results of the presidential elections in Venezuela, which declared Nicolas Maduro the winner for the third consecutive time.

According to the National Electoral Council statement, Maduro received 51.2% of the votes. In contrast, the opposition candidate, diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, representing the largest bloc of Maduro regime opponents, received 44.2%.

Hundreds of protesters, breaking through the police blockade, rode motorcycles into the government district of Caracas, where the presidential palace is located, chanting at Maduro and his government, "It will fall, it will fall, it must fall!"

Similar chants, alternating with crowds of youth collectively shouting "Freedom, freedom!" echoed in Petare, an extensive district housing Caracas' poorest residents.

Street protests against "another electoral fraud by Nicolas Maduro's government" lasted all day Monday in many districts of the Venezuelan capital.

Videos of riots in Caracas have appeared online. According to some reports, security forces allegedly opened fire on the protesters. Criminals who sided with the opposition also reportedly opened fire.

The police completely blocked access to the wealthiest district of Las Mercedes. When the police used tear gas, a hail of stones was thrown at them.

While the government announced in an official statement the third consecutive electoral victory of Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan Attorney General's office announced an investigation into the alleged "opposition plan to falsify the elections."

Meanwhile, Maria Corina Machado, leader of the Venezuelan democratic opposition, whose pre-election polls guaranteed her a victory and who was blocked from running in the elections by Maduro's regime, announced on Monday that according to reliable data obtained by the opposition, Maduro's opponents received 73.2% of the votes.

The European Union joined the United States, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil—the first countries to express doubts about the conduct of the elections.