NICOLAS MADURO DECLARED WINNER IN CONTROVERSIAL VENEZUELAN ELECTION

Mon 29 July 2024:

Nicolas Maduro, 61, has been declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election by the electoral authority, setting the stage for a significant political showdown over the country’s future. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running, claimed opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won 70% of the vote and urged the military to “respect the will of the people.”

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Public Outcry and Allegations of Election Interference

The announcement sparked anger and protests in Caracas, with residents expressing disbelief and frustration. “This isn’t possible. This is a humiliation,” said Ayari Padron, visibly upset. Many voters had lined up early, hoping for a change in leadership. The official results were a shock to opposition supporters who believed Gonzalez had secured a decisive victory.

President Maduro asserted the election results were transparent but claimed unidentified “hackers” attempted to interfere. “We suffered cyberattacks, we suffered massive hacking. We know which country is behind it, but I won’t mention it,” he stated.

Opposition Challenges Results

Edmundo Gonzalez, Maduro’s main challenger, alleged that the opposition was prevented from verifying many of the vote tallies. “All rules and norms were violated to an extent that we were denied seeing most of the ballots,” Gonzalez said, vowing to continue the struggle for electoral integrity.

Expert and International Reactions

Javier Farje, a former election monitor, noted the high voter turnout suggested an opposition victory, raising doubts about the official results. “The high turnout should have benefited the opposition,” Farje told Al Jazeera.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Maduro on his re-election as president of Venezuela.

“Russian-Venezuelan relations have the character of a strategic partnership. I am confident that your work at the head of state will continue to contribute to their progressive development in all areas … Remember that you are always welcome on Russian soil,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin.

China congratulated Maduro on the election, emphasizing their strong bilateral ties. “China stands ready to enrich our all-weather strategic partnership and better benefit the peoples of both countries,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian.

In contrast, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “serious concerns” over the election’s integrity. “We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people,” Blinken stated, calling for a fair and transparent vote count.

Nicolas Maduro’s rule and the suffering economy

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 7.7 million have left the country since 2014 in one of the largest instances of mass displacement in modern history.

About 2,000 people continue to leave each day. Some experts fear that number may spike as Maduro claimed victory in Sunday’s elections.

Maduro has long struggled to muster the popularity of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Since the mid-2010s, Venezuela’s economy has been in dire straits as the price of its main export, oil, cratered.

The economic crisis triggered hyperinflation and severe economic strain. An exodus of people started to leave the country in search of opportunities elsewhere. Some critics blamed Maduro and his allies for corruption and economic mismanagement as well.

Sanctions imposed by the United States — in response to alleged human rights abuses and democratic backsliding — have compounded the economic crisis, according to analysts.

Laura Dib, the Venezuela programme director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a research and rights advocacy group based in the US, told Al Jazeera that people in the country are desperate for an improvement to the crushing economic circumstances.

“The minimum wage in Venezuela can be around $130 per month, but what a family needs just to cover their basic needs is around $500,” she said.

Leaders across the Americas react to election results

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo: “Venezuela deserves transparent, accurate results that adhere to the will of its people. We receive the results announced by the CNE [electoral authority] with many doubts. This is why electoral observation mission reports are essential, and today more than ever must defend Venezuelans’ votes.”
Peru’s Foreign Minister Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea: “I condemn in all extremity the sum of irregularities with the intention of fraud committed by the Venezuelan government. Peru will not accept the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people.” He added that the Peruvian ambassador to Venezuela had been recalled for consultation.
Bolivia President Luis Arce: “We have closely followed this democratic festival and we welcome the fact that the will of the Venezuelan people at the polls has been respected. We want to ratify our willingness to continue strengthening our ties of friendship, cooperation and solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves: “The government of Costa Rica rejects categorically the proclamation of Nicolas Maduro as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which we consider fraudulent.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel: “Nicolas Maduro, my brother, your victory, which is that of the Bolivarian and Chavista people, has cleanly and unequivocally defeated the pro-imperialist opposition. They also defeated the regional, interventionist and Monroist right. The people spoke and the Revolution won.”
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou: “Not that way. It was an open secret. They were going to ‘win’ regardless of the actual results. The process up to election day and counting was clearly flawed. You cannot recognise a triumph if you can’t trust the forms and mechanisms used to achieve it.”
Honduran President Xiomara Castro: “Our special congratulations and Democratic, Socialist and Revolutionary greetings to President Nicolas Maduro and the brave people of Venezuela for their unobjectionable triumph, which reaffirms their sovereignty and the historical legacy of the Commander Hugo Chavez.”
Argentinian President Javier Milei – before the results: “Argentina will not recognise another fraud and hopes that this time the Armed Forces will defend democracy and popular will.”