OAN Staff Avril Elfi and James Myers
Monday, July 29, 2024 4:58 PM
Protests have erupted in Venezuela after the government declared Nicolas Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election.
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Security forces had to use tear gas to disperse large numbers of protesters on Monday, but hundreds more were seen walking along main roads banging pots and pans amid growing anger over Maduro’s victory.
People were also seen setting fire to election posters of Maduro outside the military base where he lives.
Protests were reported in other cities. Opposition activist Estefania Natera said: CNN People took to the streets “to scream and to demand that the truth be told because they know the true consequences.”
Maduro smiled as he was greeted with applause and congratulations from a large audience before being announced as the winner at a ceremony at the National Electoral Commission (CNE) on Monday.
Final vote totals for Sunday’s election have yet to be released by the CNE, which is dominated by Maduro’s allies.
Just after midnight, the National Electoral Commission announced that Maduro had won 51% of the vote, beating opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who received 44%. The results were based on 80% of polling stations being counted and indicate an irreversible trend.
But official tallies from 15,797 polling stations across the country were not made public, leaving the opposition unable to challenge the results, claiming they only knew the results from 30% of the ballot boxes.
“The Venezuelan people and the whole world know what happened,” Gonzalez said in his opening remarks.
Moreover, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said that based on vote tallies she received from campaign representatives that showed results from around 40% of ballot boxes across the country, Gonzalez’s margin of victory was “overwhelming.”
The results were also questioned by the Biden administration.
“We are deeply concerned that the results released do not reflect the will and vote of the Venezuelan people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tokyo.
“It is critical that all votes are counted fairly and transparently, that electoral authorities share information with the opposition and independent observers immediately, without delay, and that electoral authorities publish detailed vote tallies,” Blinken said. “The international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly.”
Additionally, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was highly critical of the election shortly after Maduro’s victory was announced, calling it “the most predictable, absurd and sham election in modern history.”
Other foreign leaders also condemned Venezuela’s election results.
“The Maduro regime must understand that the results it has announced are hard to believe,” Chilean leader Gabriel Borik said. “We will not accept any results that cannot be verified.”
“We view the election results announced by the electoral commission with many doubts,” Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said, according to Reuters.
Reuters also quoted Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou as saying: “It was an open secret. They were going to ‘win’ regardless of the actual outcome.”
But China and Cuba congratulated President Maduro on his “historic” victory, he said. Agence France-Presse.
The delay in announcing the results, six hours after polls were scheduled to close, has raised concerns about what to do next after Maduro’s opponents prematurely declared victory.
After declaring victory, President Maduro accused unidentified foreign adversaries of trying to hack the voting system.
“This is not the first time they have tried to violate the peace of the republic,” he told supporters at the presidential palace.
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