Protesters took to the streets across Venezuela, holding marches and waving flags to demand President Nicolas Maduro acknowledge that he lost the election to an opposition they insist clinched a landslide victory.
The protests, which the government denounced as an attempted "coup," began on Monday and extended into Tuesday after the South American country's electoral authority declared that Maduro had won a third term on Sunday with 51 per cent of votes to extend a quarter-century of socialist rule.
The opposition, which considers the election body to be in the pocket of a dictatorial government, says its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had more than twice as many votes as Maduro based on the 90 per cent of vote tallies it has been able to access.
At least 11 people have been killed in different parts of the country since Sunday's election in incidents related to the count or associated protests, rights group Foro Penal said.
On Tuesday, both Maduro and his top legislative ally accused Gonzalez and opposition firebrand Maria Corina Machado of fomenting violence in the aftermath of the vote.
In a winding speech broadcast on state television, Maduro declared that opposition protesters had battered civilians and started fires, demanding that Gonzalez answer for them.
"Respond to that you coward!" Maduro shouted, after saying both Gonzalez and Machado should be held accountable.
Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the Congress for Maduro's ruling socialists, was more direct in a speech earlier in the day, insisting that both opposition figures must be arrested for the crimes of the protesters.
"Their bosses should go to prison," he told lawmakers, accusing Gonzalez of leading a "fascist conspiracy".
Many countries have called on Venezuela to make the vote tally public and US sources said Washington was considering fresh sanctions on individuals linked to the election unless there was greater transparency.
Costa Rica said it was prepared to give political asylum to Machado and Gonzalez. On X, Machado thanked the government but said her priority was to "continue this struggle" from Venezuela.
The embattled Maduro, who also called for more marches, said in his speech that his government was reaching out to both China and Russia for help with alleged attacks on the electoral authority's systems, blaming billionaire Elon Musk for them without presenting evidence.
Maduro's defence minister, General Vladimir Padrino, declared that there was a "coup in progress" but insisted that the country's armed forces would help defeat it.
The 61-year-old president is a former union leader and foreign minister who won an election after former President Hugo Chavez's death in 2013. Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a vote the opposition says was fraudulent.
He has presided over an economic collapse and a mass exodus of Venezuelans, while US and EU sanctions have crippled an already struggling oil industry.
A Maduro win could spur more migration from Venezuela, once the continent's wealthiest country, which in recent years has seen a third of its population leave.
