The Venezuelan opposition dismissed the CNE’s announcement as fraudulent and promised to challenge the result.
Over the past 10 years, 7.8 million people have fled Venezuela because of the economic and political crisis into which the country was plunged under the Maduro Administration.
Polls conducted in the run-up to the election suggest that exodus could now increase, with one poll suggesting a third of the population would emigrate.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was among those expressing his scepticism after the result was announced by the National Electoral Council, a body which is dominated by government loyalists.
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The UK Foreign Office also expressed concern over the results
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The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, also said he found the result “hard to believe”.
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Uruguay’s president said of the Maduro government: “They were going to ‘win’ regardless of the actual results.”
In a congratulatory message, President Vladimir Putin told Mr Maduro: “Remember, you are always a welcome guest on Russian soil.”
That particular exit poll APnews was reporting on was just for one polling place, so it doesn’t mean much, but yes, it was an opposition campaigner.
That said, we shouldn’t have to speculate. All the votes should be available for review – at least for voting centers where the results are in dispute.
On the other hand, we’ve been seeing that ‘big money’ wants the opposition to win because Maria Machado (the opposition leader who was kept off the ballot) “—derided by the Chavista leadership for her pro-market views and her upper-class background” —has promised pro-business changes.
For ‘pro-business’ read ‘swingeing privatisation’ but yeah the whole thing is a mess, and I’m not sure it’s possible to have ‘free and fair’ (whatever that means) elections under such conditions.
Wrt reasons to doubt the result, electronic vote counting/voting machines are reason enough imho — but that throws a load of other democracies into question 🤷
IMO, all voting should be on paper so that a hand recount can be done if the machines are questioned.
Yes I agree 100%. There’s no other way to do it.