Venezuela Elections: Maduro Wins: He Will Serve a Third Consecutive Six-Year Term
Il Venezuela is still in the hands of Nicolas Maduro: has been re-elected president. The country’s electoral authority announced this, despite accusations of electoral irregularities by the opposition. With 80% of the ballots counted, the outgoing president obtained over 51% of the votes, surpassing the candidate of the United Democratic Platform (PUD) Edmundo González Urrutia, who obtained 44.02%. The voter turnout was 59%.
Maduro will hold office for a third consecutive six-year term, representing the continuity of the “Chavismo” in power, which began in 1999 at the hands of the former president Hugo Chavez. Maduro has been in power since Chávez’s death in 2013.
In the capital Caracasopposition supporters were seen crying and hugging each other after the results were announced. Voters had turned out in droves, with many saying they would leave the country if Maduro won, pointing to the violent repression and economic collapse under his rule.
On Sunday evening, opposition leaders said that there had been irregularities in the elections, including the denial of access to opposition witnesses at the seat of the Council National Electoral College (CNE) while the authority counted the votes and blocked the sending of data from local polling stations to the CNE headquarters to prevent the processing of further votes.
Throughout the electoral process, I am concerns grew that the opposition would not see a fair competition, because Maduro’s government controls all public institutions in Venezuela and has been accused of rigging previous elections, charges he denies.
After the CNE announced Maduro’s victory, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has asked the authority to release the voter records, saying it was “vitally important” that every vote was counted “fairly and transparently.”