Election authorities, controlled by Maduro loyalists, did not immediately release the official results from the country’s 30,000 polling stations, leaving limited room for the opposition to challenge the outcome.
Monday 29 July 2024 08:22, UK
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has been elected for a third term, the country’s electoral authorities announced, a clear victory despite some exit polls showing a landslide victory for the opposition.
Elvis Amoroso, chairman of the National Electoral Council, said: Mr. Maduro He won 51% of the vote to beat his opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez, who got 44%.
He said about 80% of ballot boxes had been counted, adding that the results had been delayed because of an “attack” on an election data transmission system.
Maduro said his reelection was a victory for peace and stability, reiterating his campaign assertions that: VenezuelaThe electoral system is transparent.
But Gonzalez also claimed victory, saying “the Venezuelan people and the whole world know what happened.”
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Mr Gonzalez’s margin of victory was “overwhelming”, based on votes counted in around 40% of ballot boxes across the country.
“The results cannot be hidden. The country peacefully chose change,” Gonzalez tweeted before the results were announced.
Opposition hopes had been raised after several exit polls, not permitted under Venezuelan law, showed Gonzalez likely to win.
But electoral authorities, controlled by Maduro loyalists, did not immediately release official tallies from each of the country’s 30,000 polling stations, limiting the opposition’s ability to challenge the outcome.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release a detailed tally of the vote to ensure transparency and accountability.
Speaking in Tokyo shortly after the results were announced, Blinken said the United States had “serious concerns that the announced results do not reflect the will and vote of the Venezuelan people.”
Blinken: ‘Concerned’ about Venezuelan poll results
“It is vital that all votes are counted fairly and transparently, that electoral authorities share information with opposition parties and independent observers immediately and without delay, and that electoral authorities publish the results of the vote tally.”
“The international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly.”
There were mixed reactions from across the region, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric saying “the Maduro regime must understand that the results are hard to believe”, adding that Santiago “will not recognise any results that cannot be verified”.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said he had “many doubts” about the election results, while Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou said it was an “open secret” that “Maduro will win, regardless of the actual outcome.”
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But the presidents of Cuba, Honduras and Bolivia all welcomed the news that Maduro would serve a third consecutive six-year term.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez and the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also joined calls for Caracas to release detailed voting data.
Gonzalez, a former diplomat, was a relative unknown among voters until April when he became Machado’s last-minute proxy candidate after his candidacy was blocked by the Supreme Court, which is controlled by President Maduro.