Venezuela's electoral authority declared Monday (29/7) that Nicolas Maduro was the winner of the presidential election, amid a controversial vote.
The President of the National Electoral Council, Elvis Amoroso, presented his credentials to Maduro, for his re-election as president for the 2025-2031 term.
“I received this constitutional and legitimate letter of credence from the Venezuelan electoral authority. The sovereign authority of Venezuela has issued its decision, which I accept with humility,” Maduro said.
At midnight Monday, national election authorities announced that Maduro had won a third term with 51 percent of the vote—a result that would extend socialist rule for a quarter of a century.
But independent exit polls showed a landslide victory for the opposition after enthusiastic support for Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado during the campaign.
Gonzalez won 70 percent, said Machado, who is barred from public office in a decision he says is unfair.
Maduro has taken office amid economic collapse, the migration of about a third of the population and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations, coupled with sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and other countries that have crippled an oil industry struggling to survive. (ns/lt)
