Both Venezuela strongman Nicolas Maduro and opposition claim election win, as US voices ‘serious concerns’

By CNN Stefano Pozzebon, Karol Suarez, Abel Alvarado, Ivana Kottasová, Jessie Yeung and Tara John, CNN

Caracas, Venezuela (CNN) — Both Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his political opponent claimed victory in the country’s election on Monday, a vote that was marked by accusations of fraud and counting irregularities.

With 80% of votes counted, Maduro secured more than 51% of the vote, beating the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) candidate Edmundo González Urrutia with his more than 44% of the vote, according to a statement by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The United States and multiple global leaders voiced skepticism about official results handing presidential election victory to the strongman leader.

Claims of election irregularities started to emerge on Sunday evening as the votes were being counted — including opposition witnesses being denied access to the CNE headquarters as the authority counted votes, and the CNE allegedly halting data being sent from local polling stations to their central location to prevent more votes from being processed.

The CNE has been criticized by some international bodies for its lack of impartiality.

The US Department of State raised concerns last year about what it said were “ongoing efforts to remake the composition” of the body, while the European Parliament adopted a resolution in February accusing the Maduro regime of making changes to the CNE it said were “designed to hamper the electoral process and quash any prospect of a return to democracy.”

CNN has reached out to the CNE, which has not responded to the opposition’s allegations.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado said in a news conference that their own records showed their candidate Edmundo González Urrutia had received 70% of the vote against Maduro’s 30%.

“We won, and everyone knows it,” Machado said, adding that the opposition would “defend the truth.”

“The entire international community knows what happened in Venezuela and how people voted for change,” she said.

Gonzalez, who was also at the news conference, alleged that rules had been violated during the election.

Chavismo goes on

If Maduro takes office, it will his third consecutive six-year term and the continuation of “Chavismo,” the left-wing populist ideology named after Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chávez.

Chávez ruled Venezuela for 14 years until his death in 2013. His policies were dominated by nationalization and the redistribution of the nation’s huge oil wealth to the marginalized and poorest communities, as well as a constant push to protect Venezuelan sovereignty against “imperialist” powers.

But the oil-rich nation has in the past few years experienced the world’s worst peacetime economic crash in recent history. Maduro has blamed foreign sanctions against his regime on the downturn, saying Venezuela is victim of an “economic war.”

Meanwhile, the opposition, galvanized this election cycle and posing the most significant threat to Maduro’s grip on power in years, had promised to restore Venezuela’s democracy and rebuild the economy if it won.

But there have been mounting concerns that the opposition would not see a fair contest, as Maduro’s government controls all public institutions in Venezuela including the Supreme Court – which could be the final arbiter on any claim of electoral fraud.

The government has also been accused of rigging votes in the past, which it denied.

A loss in the election could have devastating consequences for Maduro, who is facing drug trafficking and corruption charges in the US and is under investigation for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. If he was to relinquish control, he could end up in prison.

The attempts to skew the election towards Maduro’s favor started way before the polling stations opened on Sunday.

According to a report by Laboratorio de Paz released Monday, at least 71 people had been arbitrarily detained during the election campaign – most of them after having provided some sort of service to the opposition.

The government has also created significant impediments for the millions of Venezuelans abroad to vote, including widely unattainable passport and residency requirements. Only 69,211 Venezuelans living abroad are eligible to vote in this year’s poll, according to data published by the CNE.

Only a very limited group of election observers were allowed to monitor the vote. Venezuela withdrew its invitation to EU observers to attend the country.

A small mission from the Carter Center conducted observations and should release its finding soon. However, the center said ahead of the time it would not be able to conduct comprehensive observation of election day processes because of the relatively small size of the mission.

Tears and celebrations

Voters had turned out in droves, with many saying they would leave the country if Maduro won — pointing to violent repression and economic collapse under his rule.

Maduro has already overseen unprecedented levels of poverty and emigration from the country over his two terms – some 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country amid shortages of vital goods and soaring inflation.

Once the fifth-largest economy in Latin America, Venezuela’s economy has shrunk to the equivalent of a medium-sized city, smaller than say, Milwaukee, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.

Maduro has blamed the economic meltdown on sanctions imposed by his regime by the US and other western countries.

After the results were announced, Maduro described it as a “triumph of peace, stability, republican ideals, and the ideas of equality.”

“They could not overcome the sanctions, they could not overcome the aggressions, the threats, they could not now and will never be able to overcome the dignity of the people of Venezuela,” he said during his public speech, referring to his political opponents.

The results announced by the election authorities were met with mixed emotions in the capital Caracas, with Maduro supporters cheering and celebrating outside the president’s official residence. Meanwhile, opposition supporters were seen crying and hugging on the streets.

‘Serious concerns’

After the CNE announced Maduro’s win, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.”

He added that it was “critical” for votes to be counted fairly and transparently, and called for the CNE to publish its vote tabulations.

EU top diplomat Josep Borrell Fontelles said that the will of the Venezuelan people “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,” he said in a statement posted on X.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, updated its travel advice on Monday and advised British citizens in the South American country to “stay at home if possible.”

“The UK does not accept the legitimacy of the current administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro,” the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.

The opposition’s accusations may cast doubt on Venezuela returning to the international stage after Maduro pledged last year to hold free and fair elections in US-brokered talks, in exchange for sanctions relief.

The results were also met with mixed reactions across the region. The presidents of Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Argentina and Uruguay, all either denounced or cast doubt on the results, with several saying they would not recognize Maduro’s win. Ahead of the election, many Latin American leaders had urged Maduro to commit to stepping down if he lost.

But some of Venezuela’s partners congratulated Maduro on his win, including the Bolivian, Honduran and Cuban presidents.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Maduro on his re-election.

“Russian-Venezuelan relations have the character of a strategic partnership. I am confident that your activities at the head of state will continue to contribute to their progressive development in all directions,” Putin said, according to a statement from the Kremlin said posted on its Telegram channel.

China’s Foreign Ministry also congratulated Maduro on Monday. “China attaches great importance to the development of China-Venezuela relations and is willing to work with Venezuela to continuously enrich the connotation of the China-Venezuela all-weather strategic partnership and better benefit the people of the two countries,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at the ministry’s daily briefing.

Earlier Sunday night, a government statement shared online by the Venezuelan foreign minister decried what it called foreign “intervention” against the election, pointing the finger at a number of countries that had criticized the results – including Argentina, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru and more.

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CNN’s Sharon Braithwaite,  Jessie Gretener, Duarte Mendonca, Hassan Tayir, Flora Charner and Ed Szekeres contributed to this report