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Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro wins third term as President

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Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro wins third term as President


A supporter of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arrives at Miraflores Palace to wait for the results of the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela on July 28, 2024. The poster reads: ‘Venezuela always win’.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won a third term with 51.2% of votes, the electoral authority said just after midnight on July 29, despite multiple exit polls which pointed to an Opposition win and claims of irregularities. 

Venezuelans voted on July 28 between continuity in Mr. Maduro or change in rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia amid high tension following the incumbent’s threat of a “bloodbath” if he loses.

Polls suggested the vote poses the biggest threat yet to 25 years of “Chavismo,” the populist movement founded by Mr. Maduro’s predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.

But analysts said Mr. Maduro was unlikely to concede defeat, especially in the absence of immunity guarantees, with his government under investigation for human rights abuses by the International Criminal Court.

Mr. Maduro, 61, was seeking a third six-year term at the helm of the once wealthy petro-state that saw GDP drop 80% in a decade, pushing more than seven million of its 30 million citizens to emigrate.

He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the Opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.

In a message published on social media overnight, Mr. Maduro urged Venezuelans to “Vote, vote, vote, and peace will triumph.”



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