In Venezuela, escalating protests over the controversial presidential election have led opposition supporters to target statues of Hugo Chávez, the former president and mentor to Nicolás Maduro. At least seven Chávez statues have been defaced or destroyed, with some being beheaded or entirely toppled.
In La Guaira, a coastal city near Caracas, demonstrators pulled down a 3.5-meter statue of Chávez, which had been unveiled by Maduro in 2017. The monument was then dragged through the plaza by motorcycles, set on fire, and destroyed amid chants of “This government is going to fall.”
Protesters in Coro, the capital of Falcón state, were filmed attacking a concrete statue of Chávez, celebrating as it fell. Similarly, in Calabozo, Guárico state, another Chávez effigy was brought down with hammers and a metal pole.
The recent wave of statue attacks surpasses previous incidents, such as those during the 2017 unrest that resulted in over 160 deaths. Jesús Castellanos, an advisor for the NGO Transparencia Electoral, attributes the increased number of attacks to widespread frustration with the National Electoral Council (CNE) for declaring Maduro the winner despite significant doubts about the election’s integrity.
Official results announced on Monday declared Maduro victorious, though opinion polls had shown strong support for opposition candidate Edmundo González. Calls from opposition figures, independent observers, and neighboring countries, including Colombia and Brazil, have pressured the CNE to release detailed vote tallies, which it has yet to do.
The Carter Center, an NGO dedicated to conflict resolution and invited by the Maduro government to observe the vote, criticized the election process. The Center highlighted a “complete lack of transparency” and described the election as failing to meet international democratic standards due to the absence of detailed polling station results.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado claimed to possess 84% of the voting tallies from polling stations, which she argues prove an opposition victory.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government has responded harshly to the protests. NGO Foro Penal reports at least 11 fatalities, including a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, due to security force actions. Alfredo Romero, Foro Penal’s president, condemned the government’s preference for repression over dialogue.
President Maduro addressed the situation, condemning the statue attacks and comparing them to revolutionary movements in post-Soviet states. He vowed to pursue and punish those responsible, calling for respect for history and the law amidst ongoing unrest.
