The Venezuelan president has been re-elected with 51.2% of the vote.
Nicolas Maduro has won Venezuela’s presidential election, according to official results. The leaders of Russia and China have congratulated the head of state on securing a third term.
The head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, announced shortly after midnight on Sunday that with 80% of ballots counted, Maduro had secured more than 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for his main rival, Edmundo Gonzales.
Addressing supporters in Caracas, Maduro has described his victory as “a triumph of peace and stability.” The Venezuelan opposition has fiercely disputed the result, claiming election rules were violated, and Gonzales has also claimed victory.
Opposition leader Marina Corina Machado, who was barred by a court from running for office over corruption-related charges, has rejected Maduro’s victory, claiming: “We won and the whole world knows it.”
Following the vote, Venezuela’s electoral authority, which the opposition views as favoring the ruling party, did not immediately release the tallies from each of the 30,000 polling stations nationwide, according to media reports.
Maduro, 61, thanked his supporters and mocked the opposition, which he said “cries fraud” at every election.
The results have drawn mixed reactions from international leaders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Venezuelan counterpart on Monday, pointing to the strategic importance of the Moscow-Caracas partnership. He expressed confidence that Maduro will continue the “progressive development” of bilateral relations “in all areas” and said he is always welcome in Russia.
Beijing has also congratulated Maduro, and lauded Venezuela for “smoothly holding its presidential election,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was among those voicing skepticism, saying there were “serious concerns” that the result “does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.” Chilean President Gabriel Boric called the result “hard to believe” and demanded “total transparency.”
Maduro has received congratulations from his regional allies, including the leaders of Cuba, Honduras and Bolivia.
“Nicolas Maduro, my brother, your victory, which is that of the Bolivarian and Chavista people, has cleanly and unequivocally defeated the pro-imperialist opposition,” said Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
“The dignity and bravery of the Venezuelan people had triumphed over pressure and manipulation,” he added.
Maduro will be serving a third consecutive six-year term, having first taken office in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez.
Reports all through the night of election observers being kicked out (sound familiar?). Counting centres remaining open LONG after their prescribed deadline of 6pm per Venezuelan law.
Videos on YouTube and X of military officers throwing people out of voting centres, barring the doors and carrying away ballot boxes.
Motorcycle gangs loyal to the regime, riding around on camera shooting opposition supporters.
Exit polls from all the largest metropolitan areas, provinces and regions showing Maduro losing by a landslide.
The electoral council inexplicably holding back the vote results for several hours before meeting privately with their boss at his presidential residence and then finally releasing their tainted result.
A clearly stolen election. How very 2020’s of the Venezuelans.
This is the Marvel/Disney trailer for what we’ll all see from America in November.
Evidence of this? Please don’t say CNN……
Lol, no not CNN.
Not even if they strap me down and force my eyes open like that scene from a Clockwork Orange.
I just spent most of the night following the tweets coming through on X. Various accounts, too many to list them all here.
In spite of the whining from Western globalists Maduro is extremely popular. Why? He puts his own country and its people FIRST. If anyone with half a brain were to look at the UN reports on development in Venezuela, they would see this govt have knocked back poverty, homelessness and illiteracy, in a big way. As for empty shelves and so on, also bullshit. They have healthy trade with a variety of nations.
Of course too, because the Western tyrants can’t pillage and loot, as they are accustomed to in Latin America, they apply sanctions. Something they have been doing to nations they want to crush socially and economically, for over 100 years. Japans war with the US in WWII, was due to unfair sanctions.
Venezuela would do well to join BRICS when they can and develop a military pact(s) with the likes of China and Russia.
The Jew wins again.