Venezuelans take to streets over disputed polls

At least one person died Monday in Venezuela as security forces tried to break up protests triggered by a hotly disputed election result that gave Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a third term in power, an NGO said.

Venezuelan security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday at irate protesters challenging the reelection victory claimed by Maduro but disputed by the opposition and questioned by many other countries.

Thousands of people flooded the streets of several neighborhoods of the capital, chanting "Freedom, freedom!" and "This government is going to fall!"

Some ripped Maduro campaign posters from street posts and burned them.

Around the country at least two statues of Hugo Chavez, the late socialist icon who led the country for more than a decade and handpicked Maduro as his successor, were knocked down by protesters.

At least one person died in northwest Yaracuy state and 46 more were arrested in post-election demonstrations, Alfredo Romero, head of a rights group called Foro Penal, which specializes in political prisoner issues, said on the platform X.

In Caracas AFP observed members of the national guard firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, some wearing motorbike helmets and bandannas tied over their faces for protection. Some responded by throwing rocks back.

Protests were reported even in very poor areas of Caracas that had been bastions of support for Maduro and his socialist government. Shots were heard in some areas. Protests broke out elsewhere in Venezuela, too.

"We want freedom. We want Maduro to go. Maduro, leave!," Marina Sugey, a 42 year-old resident of a poor area of Caracas called Petare, told AFP.

Maduro, 61, attended a meeting Monday at which the...