Spontaneous demonstrations in the streets, the sound of pots and pans from buildings… Venezuelans are protesting against the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro proclaimed by the National Electoral Council (CNE) while the opposition cries fraud.
“Let him give up power now!” or “Freedom! Freedom!” shouted protesters in Petaré, a working-class neighborhood in eastern Caracas that was once considered the largest shantytown in Latin America.
Several thousand people march in the rain, shouting their discontent and burning effigies of Nicolás Maduro.
According to the CNE, Mr Maduro, the heir to former President Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), was re-elected for a third consecutive term with 51.2% of the vote, compared to 44.2% for the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. But the opposition rejects these results, claiming to have obtained 70% of the vote.
“We are disappointed, this does not reflect reality, we voted against Nicolás,” said Carolina Rojas, 21, in the procession in Petaré.
“We are out because there was fraud,” added David, 40, who did not want to give his last name. “They are calling the army (to crack down) but we have to protest.”
“I don’t want bonuses, I don’t want Claps, I want Maduro to go,” the protesters chant, referring to the low wages and food aid (Clap) distributed by the government.
The minimum wage is $4 a month, but the government has introduced mandatory bonuses of around $130.
In the city centre, in the morning, people were reluctant to go out but expressed their anger from their windows by banging pots and pans.
Some nevertheless took to the streets, like this woman who, with tears in her eyes and under cover of anonymity, recounts her reaction to the CNE announcement. “I felt very helpless, I went out to scream. They waited until one in the morning to give false results,” she fumes.
“Now we are thinking: ‘Am I going to leave (emigrate), am I going to stay, the last one left turns off the light?'” she says ironically.
“My family stayed home to cry,” said the owner of a fast-food restaurant with its security gate ajar.
From his apartment, a young man asks: “Where are the 5 million (number of votes in favor of Maduro given by the CNE) people who celebrate Maduro?”
Fear of the “colectivos”
Many prefer to protest from their windows or balconies for fear of ” collectives “, nickname given to groups of pro-government activists. Organized into gangs and feared for their violence, they are accused of repressing anti-government demonstrations.
Jenny Gil, 56, dared to go down and bang on a pot on an avenue in La Candelaria, in the heart of Caracas.
“We are disappointed with Maduro, Edmundo won. I was present at the vote at the Andrés Eloy school and we counted vote by vote, and he won, I have proof that he won,” she assures.
Janeth Carabaño, 49, returned from Ecuador two months ago in the hope of a change of government. “I left the country for five years and I came to vote. It is unacceptable that they steal my vote in such a blatant way, it is an injustice!” she protests.
A group of young people climb a street light pole to remove one of the hundreds of posters bearing Maduro’s image that line the streets of Caracas.
“When I heard the results, I started crying, I was outraged, and I said I’ll go out tomorrow [aujourd’hui]because it cannot continue like this, that’s enough,” adds M.me Carabaño, who says he wants a better future for his two children and his grandchild.
“They robbed us,” shouts a passing motorist, while others honk their horns in support of the small group gathered on the sidewalk.
Maria, a 78-year-old pensioner, says she feels “abandoned”: “They made us suffer from hunger.”
But the demonstration was cut short. “A man passed by and made a sign [passant son doigt] on his neck to tell us that we were going to die,” assures Jenny Gil.