Elvis Amoroso, head of the electoral commission in charge, described Maduro’s election victory as “irreversible” on Monday night. Maduro won 51.2 percent of the vote, according to official data from the National Electoral Council (CNE). Opposition candidate Gonzalez got 44.2 percent.
Immediately after the election results were announced, Maduro was cheered by supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace in Caracas. He described himself as “a man of peace and conversation”. Venezuela’s electoral system is transparent. Maduro said he would sign a decree to hold a “major national dialogue” on Monday.
ORF Analysis: Was Venezuela’s Election Stolen?
Current President Nicolás Maduro has won the election in Venezuela, according to official results. Opposition parties talk about election irregularities. Ernst Kernmeier of the ORF foreign policy editorial team tries to characterize the events surrounding the elections in Venezuela.
“All the World Knows”
Maduro has ruled the oil-rich South American country for eleven years with a dictatorial style and the support of the military. The 2018 election was already marred by allegations of manipulation and was not recognized by the European Union and the United States.
Maduro won only 30 percent of the vote this time around, according to opposition leader Machado, who was excluded from the election. Machado’s running mate, Gonzalez Urrutia, was the newly elected president with “the largest electoral victory in history.” Machado relied on post-election polls and four independent projections and actual counting results.
Edison Research, a research firm known for its studies of US elections, predicted that Gonzalez would win 65 percent of the vote and Maduro 31 percent in a post-election poll. Domestic firm Mechanolysis predicted 65 percent for Gonzalez and nearly 14 percent for Maduro.
“A Message to the Army”
Machado called on the country’s military to certify the election results. “A message to the military. The Venezuelan people have spoken: they don’t want Maduro,” he wrote on the texting service X. “It’s time to put yourself on the right side of history. Maduro’s power apparatus in Venezuela has so far been based on the military and the police.
As Machado said, “We won and the whole world knew it.” “Results cannot be kept secret. “The country has decided to become peaceful,” González Urrutia told X, shortly before the results were announced.
Several states have called for a review
Nine Latin American countries called for the election results to be verified. In a joint statement, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay called for “the results to be fully verified in the presence of independent election observers.” They called for a meeting chaired by the Organization of American States (OAS).
Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chávez said his government rejects “the declaration of Nicolás Maduro as president” and considers it “a fraud”. Chilean President Gabriel Boric described the published results as “hard to believe”. Peru’s foreign minister said he had recalled Venezuela’s ambassador to Peru for consultations.
“serious concerns”
“We have serious concerns that the announced result does not reflect the will or the voices of the Venezuelan people,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a meeting of Indo-Pacific states in Tokyo, referring to the decision announced by the electoral commission. . “It is critical that every vote is counted fairly and transparently.”
EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell called on Venezuela to ensure “full transparency” regarding the electoral process. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvarez made a similar point. He was “confused”, wrote his Italian colleague Antonio Tajani, and demanded “to verify the results by accessing the documents”.
UN to view polling data
At the same time, the United Nations is demanding the release of local voting data. “The Secretary-General calls for full transparency, and the early publication of election results, encouraging the breakdown of polling stations,” the world body said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres hopes that all electoral conflicts will be resolved peacefully and calls on all actors to exercise restraint. “To ensure the free expression of the will of the electorate” electoral officials can carry out their duties freely and without interference.
Greetings from Cuba, China and Russia
In contrast, the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Honduras, who belong to the leftist and anti-Western bloc, congratulated Maduro. China also congratulated. “China and Venezuela are good friends and mutually supportive partners,” a spokesman said. Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Maduro on his re-election, according to the Kremlin.
Putin wants to continue “constructive cooperation” with the South American government. According to the Kremlin, Maduro is “always welcome on Russian soil”, as Putin said. Russia is one of the most important partners of the Venezuelan leader. Moscow supported Maduro when Western countries imposed sanctions after his controversial re-election in 2018.
The lawyer accused the opposition of a hacker attack
Attorney General Tarek Sapp said there were only a handful of incidents during the election. The election was largely peaceful. At the same time, Saab blamed a hacker attack on the election office. Saab said the cyber attack was carried out from North Macedonia and was aimed at changing the results. An attempt was made to manipulate the results. But that attempt ended in failure.
However, observers and opposition parties have reported irregularities and attempts at intimidation during and before the elections. Candidates and election observers abstained, and the opposition was denied access to the media and its own election campaigns. Additionally, according to the Mi Voto Cuenta (German: My Vote Count) site, only 69,000 of the four million eligible voters abroad were able to register for the election.