International
Mass Protests Erupt In Venezuela As Voters Refuse To Accept Incumbent Dictator’s Dubious Election Victory
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By JAKE SMITH
A crowd of protesters attempted to reach the presidential palace but were stopped by law enforcement, according to the Times. Another crowd in Cumana, located hundreds of miles from Caracas, made its way toward Venezuela’s election headquarters but was stonewalled by the National Guard.
Mass protests broke out across Venezuela on Monday and Tuesday in reaction to incumbent socialist-dictator Nicolas Maduro’s questionable claim to victory in the country’s presidential election on Sunday, according to multiple reports.
Maduro declared himself the winner of the presidential election despite concerns that votes had been tampered with and the election set in his favor. With the opposing party refusing to concede defeat and the international community condemning the election as rigged, protesters have taken to the streets of Venezuela to decry Maduro as his regime works to suppress resistance, according to several accounts.
“I’ll fight for my country’s democracy. They stole the election from us,” one masked protester told Reuters.
“We are tired of this government, we want a change. We want to be free in Venezuela. We want our families to return here,” another protester told Reuters.
Protesters took to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, reaching government installations that had not seen such demonstrations in decades, according to The New York Times and Reuters. Some protesters in Caracas and other cities ripped apart posters of Maduro while others lit fires in the streets and threw petrol bombs at law enforcement, which in turn fired tear gas to disperse crowds.
A crowd of protesters attempted to reach the presidential palace but were stopped by law enforcement, according to the Times. Another crowd in Cumana, located hundreds of miles from Caracas, made its way toward Venezuela’s election headquarters but was stonewalled by the National Guard.
Flights coming into Venezuela from Panama and the Dominican Republic will be suspended starting on Wednesday amid the spike in protests, according to CNN. Maduro’s government decried the protesters as insurgents.
Maduro’s government has already excommunicated several diplomatic missions from Latin American countries that have decried the elections as rigged, according to the Times. The government also announced investigations into members of the opposition party on accusations of election fraud. The U.S. and several members of the West have declared Maduro’s claim to victory as baseless and an attempt to stay in power while undermining democracy, similar to their reactions to his questionable 2018 reelection.
The government and the electoral council have refused to release a detailed tally of the voting results, even as it declared victory for Maduro — further raising concerns that the election had been stolen, according to the Times.
“Not even (Maduro) believes the electoral scam he is celebrating,” Argentinian President Javier Milei said on Tuesday of Venezuela’s elections, according to Reuters.
Featured image credit: Maduro screenshot/PBS NewsHour
MxM News
Quick Hit:
Hamas paraded the caskets of Israeli hostages, including what they claimed were the bodies of a mother and two young children, through the streets of Gaza before handing them over to the Red Cross. Videos show crowds cheering as armed terrorists carried the coffins as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel.
Key Details:
- Videos from Khan Younis, Gaza, show Hamas and other terrorists parading four caskets, including those of two young children, before handing them to the Red Cross.
- Crowds cheered as the terrorists, armed and unmasked, carried the coffins, with celebratory music playing in the background.
- The deceased were identified as members of the Bibas family, including the youngest hostages from the October 7 attack.
ANIMALS: Hamas paraded the bodies of murdered Israeli babies in coffins while blasting loud music during their celebration today when they handed the bodies over to the Red Cross. pic.twitter.com/CoTV5Rzep7
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 20, 2025
Diving Deeper:
During a ceremony in Khan Younis, Gaza, Hamas paraded the caskets of Israeli hostages through the streets, including what they claimed were the bodies of a mother and her two small children. The display occurred before the remains were handed over to the Red Cross as part of a prisoner exchange agreement with Israel. Crowds of Gazans were seen cheering and celebrating as the coffins were carried by armed terrorists.
Videos from the event show masked militants loading a casket into a Red Cross aid truck, while another militant, adorned with symbols of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, filmed the procession. Another video shows adults and children waving and celebrating as Hamas fighters, armed and in trucks, paraded through the streets. Reuters footage also captured members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) helping carry a casket, highlighting the involvement of multiple terrorist factions in the display.
Hamas presented the bodies as those of the Bibas family, who were captured during the October 7 attack. The children, aged four years and less than one year, were among the youngest hostages taken during the brutal assault that triggered the ongoing 15-month conflict. The fourth body was identified as 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz, according to Jewish News Syndicate. Hamas has repeatedly blamed the deaths on Israeli airstrikes, though no evidence was provided to support the claim.
Israel and Hamas are currently observing a temporary ceasefire agreement, facilitating the exchange of civilian hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Despite the ceasefire, Hamas has continued to celebrate the October 7 attacks, which resulted in the largest mass killing of Jewish people since the Holocaust. During the ceremony, a stage displayed a poster depicting Israel as a “Nazi Army,” underscoring Hamas’s longstanding agenda of hostility towards the Jewish state.
The shocking parade of caskets, accompanied by celebratory music and cheering crowds, has drawn international condemnation and further underscored the brutal nature of Hamas’s actions. As the exchange process continues, the emotional toll on the families of the victims remains immeasurable.
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