President Maduro’s message of congratulations for exemplary post-election behavior may have been premature. In the town of Sosa, Barinas, rioters torched the mayoral house after hearing the election results.
Couple that with widespread reports of election-day irregularities, voting-machine malfunctions, illegal chaperoning at the polls, a lack of election center staff, and a description of this election as the “most abusive election campaign in history,” and you have a recipe for voter frustration.
The governor of the state of Barinas, Adán Chávez (Hugo Chávez’s brother), didn’t rule out irregular groups in the arson. In a press conference, Chávez said, “We assume the presence of paramilitary groups in these riots in Sosa . . . However, the immediate deployment of security forces stopped this incident from expanding and escalating to worse scenarios. Peace was reestablished.”
Seguidores del candidato Linconl Pérez (MUD) en el municipio Sosa de #Barinas encendieron la alcaldía tras resultados pic.twitter.com/No22ASSmmk
— Maryelin Montana (@maryelinDF) December 9, 2013
Source: Globovisión.