Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won the presidential election on Sunday, July 28, with 51.20% of the vote – or 5.15 million votes -, the electoral commission announced on Monday, July 29, even though several exit polls showed an opposition victory. While he claims to have won a third six-year term at the head of the country, the opposition has accused the government of fraud, irregularities and having led a campaign of intimidation.
Shortly after midnight local time (4am GMT), Elvis Amoroso, president of the government-affiliated National Electoral Council (CNE) electoral body, told reporters that 44.2% of the vote had gone to the candidate the opposition Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. This after the counting of 80% of the ballots and a participation of 59%. A result ” irreversible ” said Elvis Amoroso.
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 chanting ” Let’s go Nico ” The re-elected president promised ” peace, stability and justice ” during a speech just after the announcement of the results in front of his supporters. “ There will be peace, stability and justice. Peace and respect for the law. I am a man of peace and dialogue. “, he said as the campaign and the vote took place in a tense atmosphere. The people have spoken and this voice of the people must be respected ” said his campaign manager, Jorge Rodriguez, shortly before the results were announced.
The long wait for the results has increased tensions in the country. Altercations between supporters of Nicolas Maduro and those of the opposition took place earlier in the evening, our correspondent in Caracas reports, Alice Campaignolle. Nothing suggested this result and many people are already crying fraud.
Opposition claims victory for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia
After the announcement of Maduro’s victory, the Venezuelan opposition claimed victory in the presidential election on the night of Sunday to Monday, assuring that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had won 70% of the votes and refusing to recognize the results proclaimed by the CNE which gave the winner to the outgoing president Nicolas Maduro. We won ” with “ 70% of the votes “, “ Venezuela has a new elected president and it is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia “, said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was declared ineligible and replaced at short notice by Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in a statement to the press in Caracas. She is thus expressing an abysmal difference.
” The results continue to come in and our victory is overwhelming. ” she said from her campaign headquarters in Caracas, addressing national and international journalists. We all know what happened today. And when I say everyone knows, I start with the regime itself. “, assured Ms. Machado. The entire international community knows this, even those who were once allies. » « The results cannot be hidden. The country has chosen peaceful change. ” wrote Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on X.
The opposition bases its statements on 40% of the electoral records, because it claims that some polling stations in the country do not transmit their results to the National Electoral Council. Maria Corina Machado also claimed that her witnesses in the polling stations were prevented from accessing the ballot records, which is provided for in the electoral legislation.
Maria Corina Machado reminded poll workers to stay in place to continue monitoring the counting, which is not quite finished, as she had done earlier. She also called on the armed forces, who are responsible for organizing and monitoring the vote, to uphold the popular sovereignty of this election. But the army is led by Nicolas Maduro, the head of state.
We have fought all these years for this day, these are the crucial minutes, the decisive hours. We want to ask all Venezuelans to stay in their polling stations, accompanying the polling station staff and the witnesses who know very well what their tasks are and what their rights are.
Presidential election/Venezuela: opposition calls on voters to stay in polling stations
Because opposition leaders, who were leading in the polls, had declared on Sunday evening that they had ” reasons to celebrate “, while asking their supporters to monitor the polling stations to ensure that the counting goes smoothly. We ask all Venezuelans to be there to watch. We have fought all these years for this day, these are the crucial minutes “, Maria Corina Machado had said.
” Venezuelans and the whole world know what happened today. All the rules were broken – most of the minutes [des urnes électroniques] have still not been delivered ” said candidate Gonzalez, who for the first time spoke in a strong and imposing tone, far from his traditional monotonous speeches, reports the Brazilian daily São Paulo Newspaper.
He denied that he would call on people to take to the streets for mass protests: ” Our message of reconciliation and peaceful transition remains valid. Our struggle continuesMr. Gonzalez continued in the opposition coalition headquarters. There is a very good saying that the rope of lying is short. »
The opposition represented by the discreet diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 74 years old, unknown to the general public, wanted to close a quarter of a century of Chavista power. This is the socialist-inspired doctrine of the former president Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), including Nicolas Maduro61, is the heir. Eight other candidates – of no importance – were also in the running in this single-round election.
Many countries express doubts
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed ” serious doubts ” as to the accuracy of the results of the presidential election in Venezuela, where incumbent President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner. “ We have serious concerns that the announced result does not reflect the will or vote of the Venezuelan people. “, added Anthony Blinken at a press conference in Japan.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric publicly casts doubt on the outcome of Venezuela’s presidential election, saying the results “are hard to believe “. “ The Maduro regime must understand that the results it publishes are difficult to believe “, reacted Gabriel Boric on the social network X, affirming that “ Chile will not recognize any result that is not verifiable “.
The President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, “ categorically rejects “the proclamation of the victory of Nicolas Maduro which he describes as “ fraudulent “. ” The government of Costa Rica categorically rejects the proclamation of Nicolas Maduro as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which we consider fraudulent. “, Rodrigo Chaves said in a message posted on the social network X. He added that his country would work ” with the democratic governments of the continent and international organizations so that the sacred will of the Venezuelan people is respected “.
The head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, called for a “ full transparency in the electoral process ” in Venezuela after the proclamation of the victory of Nicolas Maduro, contested by the opposition. “ Venezuelans have voted on the future of their country peacefully and in large numbers. Their will must be respected. It is essential to guarantee full transparency in the electoral process, including detailed vote counting and access to polling station records. “, said Josep Borrell in a message published on the social network X.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea announced Sunday that he was recalling Lima’s ambassador to Venezuela for consultations due to the election results that declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner. In light of the very serious official announcements of the Venezuelan electoral authorities, the immediate recall for consultations of the Peruvian ambassador accredited to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been organized. “, Mr. Gonzalez-Olaechea said on X.
For his part, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said he had called his counterpart Nicolas Maduro to congratulate him on his “ historic electoral triumph ” in Venezuela. ” I spoke with my brother Nicolas Maduro to warmly congratulate him on behalf of the party, the government and the Cuban people for the historic electoral triumph achieved ” said the president of Cuba, a traditional ally of Venezuela.
And a few hours ago, eight Latin American countries considered it essential that the respect of the result of the vote be guaranteed.
Outgoing President Nicolas Maduro was seeking a third six-year term in office in the oil-rich country, which has been mired in an unprecedented economic crisis that has forced 7 million of Venezuela’s 30 million people to emigrate.
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