Confusion reigns in Venezuela. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed on Monday, July 29, “serious doubts” about the accuracy of the results of the presidential election, while the incumbent President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner. “We have serious concerns that the announced result does not reflect the will or the vote of the Venezuelan people,” added Antony Blinken during a press conference in Japan.
Minutes earlier, the president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, announced that Nicolas Maduro, heir to former president Hugo Chavez, had beaten opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who had 44.2% of the vote after 80% of the ballots had been counted. The result was “irreversible,” he said.
The Venezuelan opposition claimed victory in the presidential election on Sunday night, saying its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had won 70% of the vote and refusing to recognize the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE). “We won” with “70% of the vote,” “Venezuela has a new elected president and it is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said in a statement to the press in Caracas.
“It is essential that every vote be counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers, and that election authorities publish detailed voting results,” Blinken said. “The international community is monitoring the situation very closely and will respond accordingly,” he added.
The same tone was heard from Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a leftist: “The Maduro regime must understand that the results it publishes are difficult to believe.” He warned that “Chile will not recognize any result that is not verifiable.” “DICTATOR MADURO, OUT!!!,” wrote Argentine President Javier Milei on X. “Venezuelans have chosen to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro.” Costa Rica and Peru also rejected the proclaimed result.
“Let’s go Nico”
Greeted by a small fireworks display, Nicolas Maduro stepped out onto a stage at the presidential palace in Caracas to celebrate his victory with his supporters singing “Vamos Nico.”
Despite polls giving the candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia the clear winner, Nicolas Maduro, who relies on the military, has always seemed sure of his victory despite an unprecedented economic crisis. The oil country, long one of the richest in Latin America, is bled dry, mired in an unprecedented economic and social crisis: collapse of oil production, GDP reduced by 80% in ten years, poverty and totally dilapidated health and education systems. Seven million Venezuelans have fled the country.