Maduro Declared Winner In Venezuela Presidential Race

Venezuela’s government faced its toughest electoral test in decades with Sunday’s presidential elections.

Maduro praised his country’s electoral system, describing it as one with a “very high level of trust, security, transparency.” I Photo: Nicolas Maduro Facebook

President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner amid claims from the opposition of irregularities, Regina Garcia Cano reported for the Associated Press (AP).

In his first speech after being named the winner of Sunday’s presidential election, Maduro praised his country’s electoral system, describing it as one with a “very high level of trust, security, transparency.”

He also said the system was the target of a failed “massive hack” by a foreign actor, which he refused to identify.

He asked for respect for “the sovereign life of Venezuela” and for “the popular will.” “This is not the first time that they have tried to violate the peace of the republic,” he said.

Republican US Sen. Marco Rubio, who was dumped as vice presidential bet by Donald Trump, quickly panned the electoral council’s announcement of a Maduro victory.

In a post on X, he said Maduro’s government had “just carried out the most predictable and ridiculous sham election in modern history.” Rubio’s state of Florida has the largest Venezuelan community in the US.

Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council (NEC), 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, Joshua Goodman also reported for AP.

But the electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, has yet to release the official voting tallies from each of the more than 15,000 polling centers, hampering the opposition’s ability to verify the results.