Venezuela Election 2013 News: Seven Killed In Post-Election Protests Amid Calls for Recount

Seven people have been killed in violence during riots after the Venezuelan election over the weekend.

By a margin of less than 2 percent, former vice president Nicolas Maduro defeated challenger Henrique Capriles. Maduro is the appointed successor to recently deceased autocrat Hugo Chavez.

There is bad blood between the opposition and the party in power, and the campaign saw plenty of vitriol and slanderous rhetoric.

Capriles called for a recount of the votes, and opposition supporters have claimed the corruption and interference in the election on the part of the military, which is closely allied to the party of Chavez and Maduro.

"If they want do an audit they are welcome to do it. They can do whatever audit they want to do. We trust in the Venezuelan electoral system. We welcome an audit," Maduro said, but no move has been made toward that end, and Maduro banned protests against the election results.

"The march to the center of Caracas will not be permitted," Maduro said. "I will use a hard hand against fascism and intolerance. I declare it. If they want to overthrow me, come and get me. Here I am, with the people and the armed forces."

In response, protesters clashed with police. Capriles called off another planned protest to avoid more violence but continues to call for an official recount.

"The illegitimate one and his government ordered that there be violence to avoid a vote count! They are the ones responsible," Capriles said. Maduro is seeking to lend legitimacy to the results.

"There should be no doubts about the election results," Maduro said. "The institutions are functioning. If 7,500,000 Venezuelans said that Nicolas Maduro should be the president of the republic until 2019, this must be respected -- the democracy and the power of the majority."

Capriles and opposition leaders have also claimed that Maduro has issued arrest warrants for them, though that has not yet been confirmed.

"El ilegítimo habla de amor,de no violencia y mandó a atacar mi residencia oficial como Gobernador de Miranda en los Teques,allá estaré," Capriles tweeted.

"He [Maduro] ordered to attack my official residence as Governor of Miranda in Los Teques, where I will be."

Both sides charge the other is responsible for the violence. The government claims the people killed were supports of Maduro, but at least one of the parents of the victims says his son was protesting the election results when he was killed.