U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed 'serious concerns' that the result did not reflect the vote of the Venezuelan people.
President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters after electoral authorities declared him the winner of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela on Monday.BOGOTA, Colombia — Electoral authorities claimed that Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s deeply unpopular president, had won a third term in Sunday’s election, sparking accusations that his authoritarian regime had committed massive fraud to steal victory from opposition candidate Edmundo González.
As evidence, Machado cited several exit polls and quick counts showing González heading toward a landslide victory, as well as paper receipts from voting machines. An exit poll published by the U.S. firmshowed González leading Maduro 65% to 31% while nearly all pre-election polls predicted that he would trounce Maduro.
Maduro, 61, was first elected in 2013 following the death of his mentor, Hugo Chávez, who founded Venezuela’s socialist revolution in 1999. But Maduro is widely despised for leading Venezuela into its worst economic crisis in history which prompted nearly 8 million Venezuelans, about a quarter of the population, to flee the country. He has also been indicted by the U.S.
“We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said."It's critical that every vote is counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and electoral observers without delay and that the electoral authorities publish detailed tabulation of votes.
Some Venezuelans were so eager to cast their ballots for the opposition that they lined up at polling places the night before the election. Elidio Santana, who sells bottled water on the streets of Caracas, stood in line for four hours to vote for González.
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