LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) 鈥 Anti-government activists across Venezuela are toppling giant statues of Hugo Ch谩vez to express their anger over the alleged stealing of an election by the late president's handpicked successor, Nicol谩s Maduro.
In the seaside city of La Guaira, outside the capital Caracas, twisted rebar and chunks of concrete lie below a pedestal where a group of protesters Monday night ripped down one likeness of Ch谩vez that was dedicated by Maduro in 2017.
A video provided to The Associated Press from one protester shows the moment when the 3.5 meter (12 feet) statue of the leader known as El Comandante was pulled down to raucous shouts of 鈥渢his government is going to fall.鈥 Once removed, the statue was dragged by motorcycles across the plaza, doused in gasoline and set on fire, the protester said.
鈥淭his is a powerful symbol to them,鈥 said the protester, who asked not to be identified for fear she could be arrested. 鈥淓very time we tackle one of their symbols, we're taking away some of their strength.鈥
This monuments honoring the creator of the so-called Bolivarian Revolution have been attacked by angry mobs. The same phenomenon occurred during waves of anti-government unrest in 2017 and 2019.
But the simultaneous nature and high number of attacks 鈥 five in the last 24 hours 鈥 underscores the depth of anger many Venezuelans feel after the 春色直播 Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner in Sunday's presidential election. The opposition says its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, more than doubled the incumbent's vote count.
A plainclothes military intelligence officer stopped journalists trying to take photos of what remains of the destroyed statue in La Guaira. The officer, who didn't identify himself, said the country is 鈥渁t war鈥 and that any effort to disrespect Ch谩vez was offensive to millions of Venezuelans who revered the former army paratrooper and anti-imperialist icon.
Maduro said several people had been arrested in the attacks, which he likened to the images from revolutions pushed by the U.S. in post-Soviet states including Ukraine and Georgia.
鈥淲hat do these people have in their head? In the heart?鈥 Maduro asked in a televised address Monday night in which he broadcast images of some of the attacks. 鈥淛ust imagine if they one day gain power here, what they would be capable of doing.鈥
