SUPPORTERS and opponents of Venezuela’s socialist government rallied in the streets again today as re-elected President Nicolas Maduro insisted no foreign-backed coup would succeed.

Foreign Minister Yvan Gil warned the European Union to back off after it demanded external verification of the results, reminding EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that “August 6 marks 200 years since the Battle of Junin, where the Liberation Army defeated the European imperialists. We are not a colony.”

Venezuela’s opposition claims, as it did in 2013 and 2018, that the election result is invalid, citing data gathered by its own supporters and differences from opinion polls conducted by pollsters with opposition links, a tactic it used to discredit Chavista victories as far back as 2006.