Opposition supporters have gathered across Venezuela to protest Nicolás Maduro’s disputed victory in last month’s presidential election.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado joined thousands of protesters in the capital Caracas in calling on them not to be afraid.
Ms Machado, who has been in hiding since being accused of rebellion, said nothing was more important than the voice of the people, who had spoken.
Maduro supporters also held demonstrations, and police and military were mobilized.
“We will not leave the streets,” Ms. Machado told the protesters, many of whom waved copies of electoral records from polling stations as evidence of victory.
She called for protests across the country to increase pressure on Maduro to concede.
Some demonstrators seemed determined to carry on.
AFP quoted Adriana Calzadilla as saying: “This is a criminal government that wants to stay in power. I smell freedom and I have nothing to fear.”
“I hope Maduro will admit his defeat and hand over power peacefully,” medical student José Belbin told Reuters.
“I think what’s going to happen is that dictatorships are going to get harder and we all need to unite against dictatorships and show that there are more good people out there.”
Maduro insists he won a third six-year term, but the opposition has released statistics showing his candidate Edmundo Gonzalez winning by a wide margin.
Gonzalez, speaking from an undisclosed location, said it was time for an “orderly transition.”
At rallies of his rivals, Maduro mocked Mr Gonzalez, saying he “lived in a cave”.
The electoral commission, controlled by Mr Maduro’s allies, declined to release detailed results but declared him the winner with 52% of the vote. Independent observers say it lacks transparency.
Anti-government protests have broken out since the election, with hundreds of people arrested by security forces who remain loyal to President Maduro.
According to the Venezuelan government, more than 2,400 people have been detained since July 29, the day the disputed election results were announced.
UN condemns street protests and criticism on social media Suffered “severe repression” by the state.
Similar demonstrations have been held in cities around the world, from Australia to Spain, as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.
The European Union, the United States and some Latin American countries refused to recognize the results.
