How did Venezuela wake up after Maduro’s highly controversial reelection? See it here

Venezuelan leftist President Nicolás Maduro was re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term, amid allegations of fraud by the opposition, which claimed victory for its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.

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The pro-government National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed the president for a third consecutive six-year term with 5.15 million votes (51.2%), after counting 80% of the votes. González Urrutia received 4.45 million votes (44.2%), according to this first bulletin.

The announcement of his re-election was immediately questioned by the United States, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay and the European Union, which called for “full transparency” in the vote count. While China, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras and Bolivia congratulated him.

In Colombia, which shares a long border with Venezuela, the government of Gustavo Petro, the first leftist president in the country’s history, called for “a complete recount of the votes, their verification and independent audit.”

In power since 2013, Maduro is projected to remain in office for 18 years, until 2031. Only dictator Juan Vicente Gómez will have governed longer than him, with 27 years (1908-1935).

“There will be peace, stability and justice. Peace and respect for the law.“Maduro said in his first statements after the announcement of the result, before hundreds of supporters at the Miraflores presidential palace.

Maduro had framed this election as a crossroads between “peace or war” and warned that an opposition victory could lead to a “bloodbath,” which earned him criticism from the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Chile, Gabriel Boric, among others.

The Venezuelan opposition denounced fraud in the vote and declared itself victorious with 70% of the votes, against 30% for Maduro.

“All rules have been violated”“said Gonzalez, representative of the charismatic and popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who is barred from running due to political disqualification.

Machado actually proclaimed it. “Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is Edmundo González Urrutia,” he said to applause at a press conference.

“This is not just another fraud, this is blatantly disregarding and violating the will of the people,” said Machado.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “serious concern” over Maduro’s proclamation and demanded a recount of the votes.

Costa Rica called “fraudulent” the election, the president of Chile said the results were “hard to believe,” and Peru has recalled its ambassador in Caracas for consultations.

Argentine President Javier Milei, for his part, claimed González Urrutia’s “crushing victory.” “Argentina will not recognize another fraud, and expects the Armed Forces to defend democracy and the will of the people this time.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that he spoke with Maduro to congratulate him on his “historic victory.”

“Until peace prevails”

During the election day, the opposition denounced irregularities in the counting of votes. First, because its witnesses were prevented from accessing the voting centres to witness the process, and then because it was unable to obtain copies of the minutes issued by the voting machine (the system is automated), to which the parties are entitled by law and which are used to compare the official result.

The opposition also denounced the arrest of some 150 people linked to the campaign, 37 of them in the last two days.

Most polls were in favour of the opposition, after years of a crisis that saw the Gross Domestic Product shrink by 80% and forced more than seven million people to flee, according to UN data.

Machado urged his supporters to remain at the polling stations collecting the ballot papers they have not yet received.

“I ask all communities in Venezuela to go with their families to accompany them to the voting centers,” said the leader.In this vigil of civic celebration we continue tonight and will continue until peace prevails.“.

“We have said it: the end is the end,” he insisted, repeating his campaign slogan, which has become almost an opposition mantra.

The Unitary Platform coalition rallied around Machado to confront Maduro after withdrawing from the 2018 election, considering it fraudulent.

She has previously been accused of seeking to destabilize the country through violence.

Elvis Amoroso, the president of the CNE, denounced an “attack against the data transmission system that delayed” the counting.

Maduro also referred to a “hacking” of the automated electoral system, as he went out to celebrate with the supporters who were waiting for him at the presidential palace.

Participation was 59%, according to Amoroso.

A small delegation from the Carter Center was present at the elections, but it said it was unable to carry out a “comprehensive evaluation of the voting, counting and tabulation process” as the European Union, which was excluded as an observer at the end of May, had planned to do.

A panel of four UN experts also accompanied the vote, although their report is confidential and will only be shared with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

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