Protesters tear down several statues of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela

MADRID. (EUROPA PRESS) – Hundreds of Venezuelan citizens took to the streets since Sunday to protest against the result of the elections – in which, according to the National Electoral Council, President Nicolás Maduro won with just over 51% of the votes – even toppling statues of former President Hugo Chávez.

Images are circulating on social media and in opposition media of the moment when a group of protesters knocked down the statue of the Chavista leader in states such as La Guaira and Carabobo, in the Caracas area. Maduro confirmed these events, even suggesting possible interference by “the gringos,” in reference to the United States.

In Venezuela ???? they are destroying all the statues of Hugo Chavez, the civil rebellion began. pic.twitter.com/xxQgXSZWTL

— Liberal Daily (@liberal_diario) July 29, 2024

“They tried to tear down statues in homage to Commander President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. They managed to tear down the iconic (…) statue of Commander Chávez in the Bolívar-Chávez plaza in La Guaira,” Maduro lamented during a speech in which he questioned the opinion of the citizens of La Guaira.

At this point, the Venezuelan president showed images of what happened in La Guaira, and compared what happened to the “typical images of the color revolutions promoted by the gringos in the world,” thus alluding to citizen protests in former Soviet nations against authoritarian leaders.

Finally, Maduro stressed that he and his government had already warned that this could happen and that if the opposition came to power, “they would be worse than (Henry) Ramos Allup,” former president of the Venezuelan National Assembly who “came to power removing the picture of (Simón) Bolívar, of Chávez and everything that was patriotic symbolism.”

Venezuela held a presidential election on Sunday in which the ruling party said Maduro won with just over 51% of the vote. However, much of the international community has expressed doubts about the legality of the results and the opposition claims victory for its candidate, Edmundo González, with 70% of the vote.