Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was reelected with 51.2% of the votes, according to the electoral council. However, his victory was overshadowed by allegations of intimidation against the opposition and concerns about potential fraud. Elvis Amoroso, the head of the CNE electoral body, reported that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who had been leading in the polls, received 44.2% of the votes. These results paved the way for a third six-year term of Maduro’s socialist revolution, which he vowed to execute with ‘peace and security’ for all Venezuelans.
In a televised address, Maduro appealed for Venezuelans to respect the pronouncement of the electoral authority and called for talks with the opposition. He said the talks should be based on “assumptions of democracy” and the “national interest.”
The United States said it had serious concerns about the announcement and that the vote results did not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke at a news conference in Tokyo hours after the announcement. “Every vote must be counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay, and that the electoral authorities publish a detailed tabulation of votes,” he said. The United States would take “appropriate action” if the Venezuelan elections were not free and fair, he added.
Opposition leaders and international observers have raised concerns about electoral violations. They have pointed out instances of opposition witnesses being denied access to the electoral council headquarters during the vote count and allegations that CNE officials were withholding data from polling stations. Several foreign ministers have also urged Venezuela to ensure full transparency in the voting and counting process.
Despite these concerns, the Venezuelan government has refused to give in. The opposition has demanded that the electoral commission publicly release all the data from each of the 30,000 polling stations, which it says will allow them to verify the results.
The opposition says it has copies of the data from about 40 percent of voting stations. It says it will challenge the results if it does not receive the data it needs. Venezuela’s government has said the elections were free and fair. Maduro’s supporters say they see him as a continuation of the legacy of their late mentor, President Hugo Chavez, who launched social programs to help the poorest residents of Venezuela. However, the economy plunged during his tenure, and millions of Venezuelans fled for opportunities elsewhere in Latin America. The country’s inflation rate has skyrocketed in the past decade, and its currency has lost a considerable chunk of its value. Many people are now struggling to buy the basics of life, with some having to work second or third jobs. The IMF predicts that the economy will grow 4% this year, but that won’t be enough to lift most families out of poverty.
