At least two statues of Chavez, a socialist revolutionary who led Venezuela for more than a decade, were knocked down by protesters.

Mr Maduro reacted to the protests by pledging that security forces would keep the peace and saying that “acts of violence” were being “promoted by the extreme Right”. The armed forces have long supported the president and there were no signs generals were breaking with the government.

Four people were reportedly killed during protests on Monday, with dozens more injured by rubber bullets.

A local monitoring group, the Venezuelan Conflict Observatory, said it had recorded “numerous acts of repression and violence” carried out by paramilitary groups and security forces during the protests.

On Tuesday morning, Freddy Superlano, a leading figure within Venezuela’s opposition coalition was arrested, his party said.

How did world leaders react?

The United States and various Latin American leaders have rejected the results or said greater transparency was needed.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the US had “serious concerns that the declared outcome does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people”.

The UK Foreign Office also expressed concern, calling for the “publication of full, detailed results to ensure that the outcome reflects the votes of the Venezuelan people”.