Protesters took over several points in Girardot and surrounding municipalities

|| Rodolfo Gamarra || Photos: El Periodiquito

Hundreds of people gathered in San Jacinto to express their discontent with the results of the electoral contest

The day after the presidential elections in Venezuela began with much silence in much of the country. The streets were deserted, few businesses were open and there was little public transport.

In Maracay, the day was calm until after 11:00 am, when pots and pans began to be heard in protest, following the results issued hours earlier by the CNE.

At noon, while the main rector of the Electoral Power, Elvis Amoroso, proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the elections of last June 28, large groups of citizens took to the streets to protest what was happening.

A light rain did not stop those who decided to go out to express their discontent. Various spaces in the capital of Aragon and neighboring areas were filled with citizens who, for the most part, carried flags or some kind of clothing with the tricolor.

Freedom! And respect the will of the people! were some of the slogans shouted by the protesters, amid the sounds of pots and pans and the honking of motorcycles and cars.

Some spontaneously decided to walk to iconic points of the city such as the intersection of Casanova Godoy and Las Delicias avenues, Plaza Bolívar and the San Jacinto roundabout. Hundreds of people gathered in the latter to express their discontent with the results of the electoral contest.

The San Jacinto rally, the most emblematic of the day, began to move after 3:00 pm. A caravan of motorcyclists made way for citizens on foot and others in cars. They were headed to the center of Maracay, but something happened on the way. Upon reaching the La Barraca Military Circle, they decided to return to the starting point.

They remained there for hours, and it was even a gathering point for marchers from the municipalities of Mariño and Francisco Linares Alcántara.

Although the demonstration was peaceful, something suddenly sparked a confrontation between soldiers from the 42nd Parachute Brigade and a group of protesters. For more than an hour the situation became violent, with regrettable consequences for several families.

THE EXIT

Earlier, riot police from the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and police forces took over strategic points, such as the intersection of Las Delicias and Casanova Godoy avenues and Bolívar and General Páez.

In Plaza Bolívar and its surroundings, motorcyclists and residents of nearby communities remained, asking the GNB officers to side with the people. “We are the same people, you are also hungry and suffering from misery,” shouted one of those who remained for hours in front of the security cordon.

The military remained calm, but after 6:00 pm the situation began to get complicated, resulting in arrests and transfers to the appropriate authorities.

They burned banner

On Avenida Constitución, at the intersection with Avenida Bermúdez, a group of residents banged pots and pans and took down a banner of the government candidate. After trampling on it, they set it on fire and sang the national anthem, while the flames consumed the poster with the image of President Nicolás Maduro.

These same actions were replicated in different sectors of the Girardot municipality, such as on 19 de Abril Avenue, Independencia residences on Ayacucho Avenue, Base Aragua urbanization and Calicanto urbanization, in the heart of the city.

Saucepan banging at MBI

In the Mario Briceño Iragorry municipality, a group of people took over the main avenue of Caña de Azúcar banging pots and pans and shouting “Freedom.” In this populous sector, the demonstrations began early yesterday morning, after the CNE announcement.

The energy spread through social media, where hundreds of videos, audios and photos were widely disseminated, with testimonies of the upheaval that was unleashed in every part of the state’s municipalities.