Venezuela's government-friendly electoral council announced early on Monday that Nicolás Maduro has won the presidential elections. Speaking in Caracas, Elvis Amoroso said that, with 80% of the votes tallied, Maduro got 51.2% of the vote, beating the opposition's Edmundo González Urrutia, who got 44%.2. Turnout was 59%, he added.
The opposition had been anticipating the chance that the government would conduct a fraudulent process, saying they had stopped receiving vote certificates. Moreover, Edison Research, which performs exit polling at major American elections, published figures showing that Edmundo González had a 64% to 31% lead over Maduro. According to Juan Forero, the Wall Street Journal bureau chief for South America, Edison polled 6465 Venezuelan voters across 100 polling stations.
Opposition members claimed throughout the hours that results favored them, with Edmundo González saying that they could not be "hidden." "The country has chosen a peaceful change," he said on X.
Despite all, Maduro quickly appeared in public after the announcement, celebrating in his campaign headquarters outside the presidential palace in Caracas. "It is the triumph of the Venezuelan people's dignity. They couldn't take us through sanctions, through aggressions, threats. They couldn't do it now and they won't do it ever. Fascism in Venezuela, the land of Bolívar and Chávez, won't make it through, nor today not ever," he said.
"There will be peace, stability, respect for the law and justice. We have a Constitution in Venezuela, we have institutions," Maduro added, criticizing the countries that called his government out and requested transparency in the electoral process.
The opposition and several countries and political figures conveyed messages of the kind before and after the elections were announced. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, for example, said Maduro would only be able to win through fraud. "After announcing a complete fraud in the elections, expect the Maduro regime will now begin to blackout the internet inside of Venezuela to make it difficult for those inside to communicate with each other and to the world," he said.
El régimen de Maduro acaba de llevar a cabo las elecciones farsa más predecibles y ridículas de la historia moderna
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 29, 2024
The Maduro regime in #Venezuela has just carried out the most predictable and ridiculous sham election in modern history
In contrast, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, a historical ally of Maduro, quickly recognized the result. "Today, won the dignity and courage of the Venezuelan people over pressures and manipulations. I convey to my brother, President Nicolás Maduro, our warm congratulations over this historical victory and Cuba's commitment to stand by the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution."
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