World leaders and Venezuelans are questioning the legitimacy of the country's presidential election results, after President Nicolás Maduro was formally declared the winner.
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00:00Violence breaks out in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, as thousands take to the streets
00:11to protest the result of the country's presidential election.
00:16This, after the government-controlled electoral authority declared sitting president Nicolas
00:22Maduro the winner for another six-year term, with 51 per cent of the votes.
00:29To a cheering crowd, Maduro, who's been president since 2013, claimed victory.
00:34And I can say to the people of Venezuela and to the world, I am Nicolas Maduro Moro, President
00:44of the Republic of Bolivar of Venezuela, and I will defend our democracy, our law and our
00:53people.
00:55But it's the country's democracy that is in question, with the vote-facing accusations
01:01of fraud.
01:02World leaders and election observers are calling for a full breakdown of election result tallies
01:07from each of the country's 30,000 polling stations, while the opposition says the election
01:14result was marred by fraud.
01:17They also declared victory, saying their presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez gained 70 per cent
01:23of the vote.
01:24What happened on today's election day, here all the rules have been violated to the point
01:34that most of the bills have not yet been submitted.
01:40Our fight continues and we will not rest until the will of the people of Venezuela is respected.
01:49Gonzalez is planning to challenge the vote tally, saying he has proof he won.
01:55Independent polls predicted a landslide loss for the authoritarian Maduro, amid discontent
02:00among voters.
02:03Under his leadership, the country was plunged into an economic crisis that pushed 7.7 million
02:09people or a quarter of the population to flee the country in search of a better life.
02:16Voters who expected a different outcome are outraged and questioning the legitimacy of
02:21the vote.
02:22I'm going to fight for the democracy of my country, it was stolen from us.
02:26We have to fight for the democracy of our country.
02:30We have to keep fighting for our boys, for our youth, for our children.
02:38Riot police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, but it's failed to
02:48subdue the demonstrations, which are growing by the hour, and has Venezuelans overseas
02:54joining in the call for transparency.
02:57More unrest is expected over the disputed election results, as these protesters demand
03:04their vote be respected.
03:06Dolphine Chen and Rosie Greninja for Taiwan Plus.