‘We are longing for change’: Venezuela election sparks pots and pans protest

Pot-banging protests erupt in Caracas after opposition claims chavista leader’s presidential re-election was rigged

• Venezuela on a knife-edge as opposition accuses Maduro of rigging election

It was mid-morning in Catia – 12 hours after Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in Venezuela’s presidential election – and the residents of this longtime chavista stronghold were up in arms.

At first the sound of spoons clattering against crockery began timidly, puncturing the eerie silence that gripped large chunks of the capital, Caracas, in the hours after Maduro’s highly controversial move to claim another six-year term.