2 May 2013

Fistfights in Venezuelan parliament

5:30 am on 2 May 2013

Fistfights have broken out in Venezuela's parliament over the recent disputed presidential election.

Several legislators were left bloodied and bruised, with both opposition and pro-government lawmakers accusing each other of starting the fights on Tuesday.

A measure was earlier passed denying MPs the right to speak until they recognised Nicolas Maduro as president.

Official results show he narrowly beat opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who has demanded a full recount.

The National Electoral Council on Monday said Mr Maduro won by 1.49 percentage points, or fewer than 225,000 votes. In all, 99.79% of the votes have now been counted.

Earlier figures showed a victory of 1.8 percentage points for Mr Maduro, who stood in the poll as the chosen successor of the late President Hugo Chavez.

The CNE declared President Maduro the winner on 15 April. He was sworn in on 19 April.