America News Agency

Protests erupted across South American country on Monday after the national electoral authority declared the incumbent president's victory. Runner-up Edmundo Gonzalez claimed he was the real winner, and thousands of his supporters took to the streets to denounce alleged vote rigging.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Padrino accused the demonstrators of “acts of sabotage” and the destruction of official buildings, including hundreds of polling stations and offices of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

According to the minister, these “expressions of hatred and irrationality” are part of a “premeditated plan” by US-backed political groups. Padrino said that anti-Maduro protesters were trying to carry out a coup d'état with the support of “North American imperialism and its internal and external allies”.

“We are witnessing the highest expression of the fascism of an international structure that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to discredit the extraordinary show of kindness shown by the Venezuelan people on the last election day,” he claimed.

The National Electoral Council, CNE, announced on Sunday that with 80 percent of the votes counted, Maduro had won more than 51 percent, compared to 44 percent for his only challenger, Gonzales. All other opposition candidates withdrew and supported Gonzales.

Addressing supporters at the CNE event announcing his victory, Nicolas Maduro mocked the opposition, saying “screams cheating” in every election.

Maduro won a six-year term, taking office for a third consecutive term in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez. The Venezuelan president said his re-election would bring peace and stability.