Mon 22 November 2021:
According to election officials, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government achieved a landslide victory in Sunday’s regional voting, despite the fact that his 2018 election was not recognized by the world community.
In the face of a divided opposition standing in an election for the first time in three years, Maduro’s supporters won 20 of the 23 governorships and the mayorship of Caracas.
For the first time in 15 years, the European Union dispatched an observer delegation to Venezuela to monitor the elections, which will see the new administration seek to lift international sanctions on the country while the opposition attempts to rebuild in time for the 2024 elections.
The mission will present a report on Tuesday.
Sunday’s turnout was 41.8 percent, according to official provisional results after 90.21 percent of ballots were counted.
The opposition won three states including oil-rich Zulia, the country’s most populous region whose capital Maracaibo is Venezuela’s second-largest city.
“Beautiful triumph, beautiful victory,” Maduro said of the results.
Prior to the announcement, opposition leader Henrique Capriles highlighted concerns about polling places closing late, allowing for fraud.
“Maduro and his party ordered the CNE (electoral body) not to close the polling stations when there were no voters… They are going to put votes that do not exist,” he said on Twitter.
Earlier Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is backed by the United States, among other countries, both urged supporters to vote on Friday night, though Guaido decried voting conditions.
“I want to see a change in my country, not just in Carabobo but in all of Venezuela,“ said Betty Gomez, 48, from the city of Valencia, the capital of Venezuela’s Carabobo state, adding that she planned to vote for an opposition candidate.
_____________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
