Anti-government activists across Venezuela are toppling giant statues of Hugo Chávez to express their anger over the alleged stealing of an election by the late president’s handpicked successor, Nicolás Maduro.

In the seaside city of La Guaira, outside the capital Caracas, twisted rebar and chunks of concrete lie below a pedestal where a group of protesters Monday night ripped down one likeness of Chávez that was dedicated by Maduro in 2017.

A video provided to The Associated Press from one protester shows the moment when the 12-foot statue of the leader known as El Comandante was pulled down to raucous shouts of “this government is going to fall.” Once removed, the statue was dragged by motorcycles across the plaza, doused in gasoline and set on fire, the protester said.

VENEZUELA’S MADURO FACES POLITICAL MELTDOWN: RIVALS CLAIM ELECTION ‘FRAUD’ PROOF, POLICE CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTS

“This is a powerful symbol to them,” said the protester, who asked not to be identified for fear she could be arrested. “Every time we tackle one of their symbols, we’re taking away some of their strength.”

This isn’t the first time monuments honoring the creator of the so-called Bolivarian Revolution have been attacked by angry mobs. The same phenomenon occurred during waves of anti-government unrest in 2017 and 2019.

But the simultaneous nature and high number of attacks — five in the last 24 hours — underscores the depth of anger many Venezuelans feel after the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner in Sunday’s presidential election. The opposition says its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, more than doubled the incumbent’s vote count.

A plainclothes military intelligence officer stopped journalists trying to take photos of what remains of the destroyed statue in La Guaira. The officer, who didn’t identify himself, said the country is “at war” and that any effort to disrespect Chávez was offensive to millions of Venezuelans who revered the former army paratrooper and anti-imperialist icon.

Maduro said several people had been arrested in the attacks, which he likened to the images from revolutions pushed by the U.S. in post-Soviet states including Ukraine and Georgia.

“What do these people have in their head? In the heart?” Maduro asked in a televised address Monday night in which he broadcast images of some of the attacks. “Just imagine if they one day gain power here, what they would be capable of doing.”

Israel has carried out an air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

The Israeli army said that the attack on Tuesday was in retaliation for an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday that killed 12 children and teenagers.

Hezbollah, which has denied involvement in Saturday’s strike, informed mediators it would still respond to any Israeli attack, a Hezbollah official said in written comments sent to reporters.

Since the weekend attack, Beirut had braced for Israeli strikes and countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and France had urged citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there.

Many airlines have cancelled flights to Beirut.

This was the latest escalation in an almost 10-month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

NEW YORK (AP) — It is not easy to be an outsider in country music, but Orville Peck has made a career out of it.

On his third album, “Stampede,” his nonconformist spirit has led to collaborations with everyone from Willie Nelson and Elton John to Mickey Guyton and Kylie Minogue.

When the South African musician released his debut album, “Pony,” in 2019, little was known about him. A country crooner with a deep baritone more in line with outlaws like Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings than anything on contemporary radio, Peck hid his identity (Peck is a pseudonym) and his face behind a mask.

A wide strip of leather completely obscured his forehead down to the nose bridge; the rest of his visage was concealed underneath a large Stetson and a foot of cascading fringe. As his public prolife rose and he continued to release new music, Peck started slowing stripping back the mask. Now, as he prepares to release “Stampede,” a duets album, only the hat and eye mask remain.

“I think it’s sort of in parallel with my confidence,” he says. “When I first started — my first album — I really needed the mask.”

It takes some self-assurance to release a duets album. Each song is a brand-new collaboration, a previously unexplored creative experiment, and a balancing act. “Every single song is me, 50%, and then 50% the other artist,” he says. “It’s a long tradition in country to do duets and have sort of duos. You know, I think of Johnny Cash and June Carter, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris,” he says, suggesting that this kind of album would arrive later in his career.

“But then when Willie asked me to do (the song) ‘Cowboys,’ it was like, ‘Oh, is this maybe the right moment?’ And so, then I asked Elton, and then I asked Kylie, and then, you know, so on, so forth.”

A dream get that didn’t work out? Dolly Parton.

In the case of Nelson, Peck is referring to the 1981 queer country cult classic, Ned Sublette’s “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other,” covered by Nelson in 2006 and an infrequent staple of Peck’s live show. When Nelson and Peck played a festival together a few years ago, the country legend invited Peck onto his tour bus for a cup of coffee and suggested they re-do the song as a duet. He told Peck, “It’s more important now than ever,” Peck recalls.

“I think the fact that he wanted to do this particular song with me, and the fact that his reasoning behind it was in support, and motivated in the encouragement of LGBTQ people, I mean, it’s like the most validating thing ever.” Later, they’d film a music video for the duet at Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Texas.

Across “Stampede,” too, are non-traditionalist duets and covers. There’s “Papa Was a Rodeo,” a bluegrass cover of the Magnetic Fields’ indie rock song, now with Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway. There’s an ode to Sin City, “Death Valley High,” with Beck, who told the AP the song was inspired by “Elvis in Vegas is, you know, Vegas by way of Memphis. It’s a totally different thing from Sinatra Vegas.”

There’s also “Midnight Ride,” a disco number with Kylie Minogue and Diplo, which the trio debuted live during a Pride event in Los Angeles in June.

“I’ve learned over the years how important visibility is,” Peck says, “Bringing something that’s really joyful and inclusive.”

A kind of outsiderness is where Peck feels home. “Country radio — country with a capital C — it’s sort of its own thing,” he says. “You got to do a lot of kissing babies and shaking hands to kind of play the Nashville game. And it’s just something I’ve never been interested in doing.

“I just want to have my music and my art speak for itself, and I don’t feel like I need to go kiss asses in Nashville to be accepted and be validated,” he continued.

“I know how country I am. I get to work with incredible legends like Willie Nelson, Tanya Tucker, all these people that I grew up idolizing, that love me. So, you know, that’s enough validation for me. And if I’m not on top 40 radio on country music, you know, that’s fine with me.”

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Writer Krysta Fauria contributed to this report from Los Angeles.