Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has claimed victory in Venezuela’s presidential election, sparking criticism from the United States and its allies over the legitimacy of the vote.
The 61-year-old leader has ruled Venezuela since 2013. His 2018 victory was also called illegitimate, and Maudro is widely described as a “dictator.”
A poll by Edison Research, which also conducts polls on the US election, predicted that Maduro’s rival, Edmundo González Urrutia, would win, with 65% of the vote to Maduro’s 31%.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement shortly after the announcement, expressing “serious concerns” that the result “does not reflect the will or votes of the Venezuelan people.”
In a joint press conference with opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado announced that Gonzalez was the “new president-elect.”
“We won and the whole world knows it,” said Machado, who was barred from running in the presidential election.
Election results were delayed for several hours before the National Electoral Council announced Maduro’s victory, without releasing any figures.
Blinken’s sentiments were echoed by several world leaders and other influential figures, with Elon Musk retweeting the exit poll numbers with the caption, “What a tragedy.”
Representatives from Chile, Guatemala, Uruguay, Peru and Costa Rica called for “total transparency” in the electoral process and demanded verifiable figures on the vote count.
Venezuela’s allies have lent their support. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel welcomed the result. China also accepted the outcome and congratulated Maduro.
Venezuela has long had difficult relations with the United States, with Maduro cutting ties in 2019 after then-President Donald Trump recognized his rival as interim president following the disputed 2018 election.
The country plays a role in global power dynamics because of its vast crude oil reserves, which happen to be the largest in the world at around 303 billion barrels.
The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil in 2019, which the country was able to circumvent thanks to support from Russia and China.
The two countries also blocked a 2019 UN resolution calling for new elections in Venezuela.
businessinsider
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23954583/acastro_STK066_verizon_0001.jpg?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "“Unlimited” plans from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile just received a million slap in the face")