VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro has called for international solidarity with Bolivia in the face of a “coup” against its President Evo Morales, who has just won re-election.

“Let’s raise the solidarity flags and mobilise against the coup in Bolivia and Latin America, against fascism as expressed at the moment,” Mr Maduro declared on Wednesday.

In scenes reminiscent of the Venezuela’s violent opposition’s refusal to recognise electoral victories of the left, Mr Morales’s opponent Carlos Mesa cried foul at results which showed the incumbent president with the 10-point lead required to avoid a second-round run-off.

Supporters of Mr Morales marched through La Paz and Chapare today to defend his victory.

Meanwhile Mr Mesa’s supporters have set fire to counting stations and ballot boxes. The opposition leader, who was president of Bolivia from 2003-5, has called for “permanent protests” until a second round is conceded.

He was vice-president in the government of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada when it gunned down over 60 people in protests for gas nationalisation in 2003 and as president held a referendum that saw the country vote for nationalisation of all hydrocarbons, though he refused to carry out the decision.

When Mr Morales was elected president in 2006 Bolivia was the poorest country in Latin America.

Mr Morales announced at a press conference on Wednesday night: “I have called this conference to denounce before the people and the entire world, that a coup d’etat is in progress, which the right had prepared in advance with international support.”

He called on workers to rise up to “defend democracy” in the face of violent protesters who had attacked police with explosives such as fireworks.

The US-led Organisation of American States (OAS) claimed that it would be a “better option” for Bolivia to proceed to a second round.

Its election observation team chief Manuel Gonzalez said that even if Mr Morales had the required 10-point lead he had only exceeded it by a “negligible” margin so ought to proceed to a run-off anyway.

US ambassador to the OAS Carlos Trujillo accused the government of “stealing the election.”