Nicolas Maduro

Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner in Venezuela’s presidential election on Sunday, even as his opponents were preparing to dispute the results, setting up a high-stakes showdown that will determine whether the South American nation transitions away from one-party rule. Shortly after midnight, the National Electoral Council said Maduro secured 51% of the vote, overcoming the main opposition candidate, Edmundo González, who garnered 44%. But the electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, didn’t immediately release the tallies from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, hampering the opposition’s ability to challenge the results after claiming it had data for only 30% of the ballot boxes.

EU Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for the government to respect the will of the voters and to release voting records in a statement published in Spanish and English on the social media platform X. “The people of Venezuela voted on the future of their country peacefully and in large numbers, he wrote. “Their will must be respected. Ensuring full transparency in the electoral process, including detailed counting of votes and access to voting records at polling stations, is vital.” The National Electoral Council, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, has yet to provide the tallies from the nation’s 30,000 polling booths.

Venezuela’s opposition claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, setting up a showdown with the government, which earlier declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner. “The Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened,” Edmundo Gonzalez said in his first remarks. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado made the announcement standing alongside Gonzalez, whose margin of victory she said was “overwhelming.” Machado said the opposition had voting tallies from about 40% of ballot boxes nationwide, with more expected overnight. The National Electoral Council, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, has yet to provide the tallies from the nation’s 30,000 polling booths.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has “serious concerns” about the announced result of Venezuela’s hotly contested presidential election that authorities say was won by incumbent Nicolas Maduro. Speaking in Tokyo on Monday shortly after the announcement was made, Blinken said the US was concerned that the result reflected neither the will nor the votes of the Venezuelan people. He called for election officials to publish the full results transparently and immediately and said the U.S. and the international community would respond accordingly.

Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner in Venezuela’s presidential election Sunday, even as his opponents were preparing to dispute the results, setting up a high-stakes showdown that will determine whether the South American nation transitions away from one party rule. Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council, said Maduro secured 51% of the vote, overcoming opposition candidate Edmundo González, who garnered 44%. He said the results were based on 80% of voting stations, marking an irreversible trend. But the electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, has yet to release the official voting tallies from each of the 15,797 voting centers, hampering the opposition’s ability to verify the results. The delay in announcing results — six hours after polls were supposed to close — indicated a deep debate inside the government about how to proceed after Maduro’s opponents came out early in the evening all but claiming victory. Opposition representatives said tallies they collected from campaign representatives at 30% of voting centers showed Gonzalez trouncing Maduro.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font wrote on X that “the delivery of the results of this transcendental election in Venezuela must be transparent, timely and fully reflect the popular will expressed at the polls.”

“The international community, of which Chile is a part of, will not accept anything else,” he added. Brian A. Nichols, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, shared similar sentiments on X. “Venezuelan voters showed up in huge numbers to express their will at the ballot box,” said Nichols. “It now falls on electoral authorities to ensure transparency & access for all political parties & civil society in the tabulation of votes & prompt publication of results. Credibility of the electoral process depends on it.”

More than two hours after being allowed into a voting center to witness the count, 10 residents of the Catia neighborhood exited the polling site to the applause of the roughly 30 people who were still waiting for news of results where they voted hours earlier. The Caracas site, in a longtime ruling party stronghold, ended up going to González, who took more than twice the votes Maduro got, according to the figures shared by two of the 10 Catia residents who witnessed the tallying process. Earlier at the site, as people began to read social media posts showing purported voting tallies from other centers favorable to González, some began chanting “And it has fallen, and it has fallen, this government has fallen,” a phrase that for years Venezuelans had chanted with the verbs in future tense instead.

Minister of Defense General Vladimir Padrino López praised his fellow Venezuelans for exercising their civic duty and voting peacefully Sunday. The armed forces are the traditional arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela, so Padrino’s every word is closely watched. In 2015, when the opposition swept parliamentary elections by a landslide, he recognized the results even before Maduro acknowledged defeat. On Sunday night, Padrino, flanked by top commanders in uniform, was more subdued. But he also said he was called by Maduro for a meeting to ensure the peaceful voting environment persists once results are announced. “The Venezuelans are opening a new phase,” said Padrino in ambiguous remarks in which he also condemned US oil sanctions on Venezuela. The armed forces have been an integral part of Maduro’s grip on power ever since his mentor and predecessor, former paratrooper Hugo Chávez, led an uprising against an unpopular austerity government in 1992.

Jorge Rodríguez, Maduro’s campaign chief and head of the overwhelmingly pro-government National Assembly, expressed confidence that the elections will be favorable for the ruling party. “We cannot give results, but I can show face,” said Rodríguez. “Violence failed, hatred failed; love won, independence won, Venezuelan sovereignty won and peace won,” in allusion to the main slogans of the ruling party’s campaign.

Rodríguez refrained from giving figures, affirming that the pro-government party is “respectful of the laws of our country and the constitution.” He added, “we will wait,” for the first preliminary bulletin of the National Electoral Council (CNE). The vote count will be done entirely with an automatic system. The first preliminary results are expected late Sunday. Authorities have said that such results will only be issued when they are determined to be irreversible. Venezuelan law prohibits the dissemination of exit polls before the first official bulletin.

Associated Press