Venezuela's National Electoral Council has declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential election, AP reports. The council confirmed the previously announced vote count, which showed the vice president winning the first round with 50.75% of the vote, while his main rival, opposition leader Henrique Capriles, won 48.97%. Capriles' demand for a recount was rejected.

Following the official announcement of Maduro's victory, opposition supporters protested in Caracas. According to the BBC, they clashed with police. In one area, protesters took to balconies and banged pots and pans, while in another, a student demonstration was dispersed with tear gas.

Capriles had previously said the presidential election results were rigged and called Maduro's victory illegal. He demanded a recount of the votes and an investigation into 3,200 "incidents" of alleged violations at polling stations on election day.

The presidential elections were held in Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chavez, who won the previous elections in September 2012, but never formally took office due to a serious cancer. He died on March 5. Capriles, who will turn 41 in July, was Chavez's main rival in the 2012 elections and managed to take second place. Nicolas Maduro, 50, was a bus driver before entering politics and worked in the trade unions of the Metro de Caracas transport system. After meeting Chavez, he made a career - he took a number of important government posts in Venezuela, even without a higher education. After Chavez flew to Cuba for the last cancer surgery in his life, Maduro served as acting president of the country. During the election campaign, he promised to maintain the political course of his predecessor.

Protests in Caracas after Maduro declared winner of elections